Utah transfer Elijah Moore commits to mid-major school out of the portal

Elijah "Choppa" Moore, a former four-star recruit who joined the Utah men's basketball program ahead of the 2025-26 season, is set to join his third school in a three-year span.

According to Joe Tipton of On3, the 6-foot-4 guard has committed to McNeese for the 2026-27 season.

Moore, who spent his freshman season at Syracuse, appeared in one game with the Runnin' Utes before the program announced in December that he was stepping away from the team due to "personal matters." As such, it didn't come as a surprise to most when he entered the portal following Utah's loss to Cincinnati in the Big 12 tournament.

Roughly a month after being the first player from the 2025-26 Utes squad to go portaling, Moore became the second Utah transfer to find a new home in the 2026 cycle. Starting wing Keanu Dawes, who entered the portal just over two weeks after Moore did, committed to Bill Self and Kansas earlier Thursday morning.

Moore's reported move to Lake Charles, Louisiana, also made him the third power conference transfer of the cycle to commit to Bill Armstrong's program, which landed a pledge from Washington transfer Christian Nitu on Sunday after snagging Jaylon Dean-Vines from Vanderbilt on April 10. At the time of Moore's commitment, the Cowboys had six players from their NCAA Tournament team in the portal and were expected to lose starting guard Javohn Garcia due to expiring eligibility.

With plenty of holes to fill on McNeese's roster, perhaps Moore can step in and carve out a meaningful role for himself as a junior. The Bronx native hasn't played serious minutes since his freshman season at Syracuse, where he started 16 of the 26 games he appeared in and averaged 5.2 points in 15.7 minutes per game for Adrian Autry's team.

Moore joined the Orange as 247Sports' No. 59-ranked prospect (and the No. 10 shooting guard) in the class of 2024. He chose to stay close to home while holding offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois and St. John's, among others.

For Utah, Moore's departure underscores the lack of returning production Alex Jensen has to work with in the backcourt. Both of Utah's starting guards — Terrence Brown (portal) and Don McHenry (expired eligibility) — are set to depart, while Seydou Traore and Jacob Patrick are among the 10 Utah players who've entered the portal. That leaves rising sophomores Obomate Abbey and Lucas Langarita as the only returning perimeter players who logged minutes during the 2025-26 season.

The Utes began to replenish their guard depth Tuesday with a commitment from 6-foot-7 Utah Valley transfer Jackson Holcombe.

Utah transfer guard Elijah “Choppa” Moore has committed to McNeese, his agency @RocNationSports told @On3.

The 6-4 sophomore began his career at Syracuse and is a former 4⭐️ recruit. https://t.co/P2CLLLO2iq pic.twitter.com/hTORkcQwTa
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 16, 2026

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