On a recent February afternoon, the Royals Athletic Center, located on the campus of Hopkins High School, was empty when longtime Hopkins basketball coach Ken Novak Jr. watched his senior star point guard quietly stroll in for practice.

Novak thought about how much the electric 6-foot playmaker has meant to his program and to Minnesota basketball over the years. Not many players can fill a high school gym and put on a show like Jayden Moore.

“He’s had a great career,” Novak said of Moore, who on Feb. 17 set the state’s career assist record when he picked up his 1,275th, surpassing Ely guard Mark Heiman, who finished his career in 2014.

Providence Academy senior Maddyn Greenway broke the girls state record this season and through Feb. 20 had 1,237 career assists.

When conversations arise about the great point guards to come out of Minnesota, big-time talents like Khalid El-Amin, Tyus Jones, Tre Jones and Jalen Suggs, how will Moore be remembered?

“Khalid-El Amin was pretty special,” Novak remarked.

Moore, a North Dakota recruit, is also special. He can shoot from beyond the three-point line, finish above the rim and facilitate with the best of them. He is Hopkins’ all-time leader in points, assists and rebounds in a varsity career that started with a few games in the seventh grade during the 2020-21 season.

As a starter on varsity, he has won more than 100 games, beginning with his eighth-grade season. He’s still looking to play in his first state tournament, though.

“We put a lot of trust in him,” Novak said. “He’s definitely one of the best that’s played. I’ve been very lucky to have been able to coach him.”

Moore called Tyus Jones and Tre Holloman the two best true point guards he has seen.

“Tyus Jones was probably the best point guard we’ll ever see come out of Minnesota,” Moore said. “But I looked up to Tre ever since I was a little kid. I always wanted to be like him, modeling my passing game after him, spreading the ball around and having everybody be better.”

El-Amin, the Jones brothers, Suggs and Holloman all won state championships.

This season is Moore’s last opportunity to play on high school’s biggest stage. Hopkins last qualified for the state tournament in 2020, before Moore arrived. The program’s last state title (one of eight under Novak) came in 2019.

The Royals have lost to Wayzata in the last three Class 4A, Section 6 finals. Hopkins has lost to Wayzata twice this season, including on Moore’s senior night Feb. 17.

“A lot of things have been going through our mind as a team on how we can get better,” Moore said. “For me, the assist record is cool. It was never my goal in high school to get the assist record. It’s always been a state championship. So winning that state championship would mean more.”

Brother ballers

Moore considers all of his career statistical milestones “a blessing,” but not above wearing the Royals’ blue-and-silver uniform alongside his younger brother. Tre, a sophomore, plays with Jayden in the backcourt and was his quarterback in football.

“I’m glad he’s having his breakout season with this being our last year together,” Jayden said. “He’s going to have more confidence going into next season when I’m not there.”

The brothers have played together more on the hardcourt than on the gridiron because Jayden only played high school football his junior and senior year at wide receiver.

“It brought the school more joy on the football side,” Jayden said. “Fans were coming out, and the student section was packed and loaded every Friday. We had a traveling student section. We won some games finally, and everybody was in a good spirit.”

Jayden’s spectacular speed and athleticism translated into a 1,000-yard receiving season that led to a scholarship offer from Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck.

“It was a great experience,” Tre said. “I always wanted to play with him in high school for basketball, but I also always wanted to throw it to him in football. I’m glad we got to do that for two years. I’m not surprised he chose basketball, but I was pushing for him to play football [in college], too.”

Future still bright

For a considerable part of his varsity career, Jayden was considered a four-star prospect and a consensus top-100 player in the nation within his graduation class.

Some fans were surprised to see Moore sign with UND after receiving basketball offers from the Gophers and other Division I programs like Baylor, Illinois, Iowa and West Virginia, but his message to younger prospects is to go where you fit the best.

Moore will likely play alongside former Hopkins guard Anthony Smith III, who is making an impact as a freshman for the Fighting Hawks.

“I’ll tell the next generation to have faith in yourself,” Jayden said. “Whatever way you feel like you can do it, do it that way. And always keep God first.”

It wasn’t meant to be for Moore and Smith to reach state last year, but if Moore had a do-over, he would obviously play better in that section championship game vs. Wayzata. The Trojans eventually won the Class 4A state title, but the Royals had the No. 1 seed and beat them once in the regular season behind Moore’s triple-double.

“When the game is on the line, I always want to put myself in that position to win the game,” Moore said. “As the leader of the team, I should be able to take the good and the bad. Selfishly, I don’t want to put nobody else in that position.”

It’s fitting that Moore’s legacy will be judged a lot on his passing record.

If he could guarantee to provide one last assist, it would be to help a legendary coach like Novak break the Minnesota all-time boys basketball wins record of 1,012, held by Bob McDonald. Hopkins needs two more victories heading into Thursday’s regular-season finale at Buffalo for Novak to surpass McDonald. Then there are sections.

“He’s going to get that record,” Moore said. “We just got to keep winning.”

Basketball Across Minnesota

Fuller’s five

Five Minnesota ballers who stood out:

Jordan Borowicz, Roseau: The 5-11 junior recorded the fourth-highest scoring total in Minnesota boys basketball history with 70 points on 22-for-44 shooting in a Feb. 17 win against Warroad. He also surpassed 3,000 career points.

Carter Brown, Duluth Denfeld: The 6-5 junior had 39 points and 19 rebounds in a Feb. 17 victory over Hermantown. Brown and his brother, Antonio Jr., have been going through a difficult time with their father in critical condition after being in a car accident earlier this month.

Chloe Johnson, Duluth Marshall: The 6-foot, five-star sophomore is averaging 38 points through eight games in February, which included 40 points Feb. 19 vs. Aitkin. She also surpassed 3,000 points for her career.

Avery Koenen, North Dakota State: The 6-3 junior from Montevideo led the Bison to a program-record 22 straight wins. She had 29 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in a Feb. 15 victory at North Dakota and 16 points and seven rebounds in a Feb. 19 win against St. Thomas.

Morgan Mathiowetz, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s: The 5-8 junior had her fifth 40-point game this season with 47 points in an 85-71 win vs. New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, which was led by 46 points from Camryn VanMaldeghem.

Minnesotans in the pros: Roddy makes USA team

Former Breck and Colorado State standout David Roddy was selected to play on Team USA’s World Cup qualifying team, which hosts the Dominican Republic and Mexico on Feb. 26 and March 1 in Southern California.

The 6-5 Minneapolis native has been playing with the Toronto Raptor’s G League team, Raptors 905, averaging 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists this season.

Roddy was selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

National teams will compete in several qualifying rounds through next year to earn one of 32 spots in the FIBA World Cup scheduled for fall 2027 in Qatar.

College team of the week

The Gophers women’s basketball team hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2018.

That drought seems likely to end this season. The Gophers reached a nine-game winning streak after a second victory over a top-10 team this season, beating Ohio State on Feb. 18 at Williams Arena.

Sophie Hart and Mara Braun tied for the game high in scoring with 18 points. They also combined for 19 rebounds against the Buckeyes.

Minnesota fell to then-No. 18 Michigan State on Sunday evening, Feb. 22, at Williams Arena but still gained one spot in the Associated Press rankings Monday, moving to No. 22.

Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s team is No. 8 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

Minnesota Top 25 update

The No. 1 girls team in last week’s statewide rankings flip-flopped after Hopkins defeated Wayzata 77-74 on Feb. 17. The Royals ended the regular season on an eight-game winning streak, but they did lose by nine points against Wayzata on Jan. 23.

The Trojans had 17 straight victories until losing to Hopkins, and it was followed by a second consecutive loss, 69-68 at Minnetonka on Feb. 20.

Who is really the best team in Class 4A and overall? Hopkins? Wayzata? Minnetonka? That might not really be settled until the upcoming section playoffs.

Final thoughts ...

Minnesota basketball fans didn’t get to see much of Jayden Moore during his last AAU season. He played mostly with Team Herro based in Milwaukee.

Moore put on a memorable performance to finish the summer, leading a stacked Minnesota 3-on-3 team to a championship at the Strictly BBall event at Hopkins. His teammates were Gophers recruit Cedric Tomes from East Ridge, Nebraska recruit Ty Schlagel from Cretin-Derham Hall and 6-10 Ryan Kreager from Faribault. Still, all eyes were on Moore with the game on the line for the title — and he delivered.

. . .

Basketball Across Minnesota will be published weekly on stribvarsity.com. Don’t be a stranger on X after reading, as chatting about these stories makes them even more fun to share. Thanks, Marcus (@Marcus_R_Fuller on X).