Basketball rewind: RJ Moore begins 2025-26 journey at Ambassador Christian
For the past two seasons, R.J. Moore has led Corvian Community to statewide high school basketball prominence, highlighted by a 2025 N.C. Class 1A title on a Moore’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime in the championship game.
Over the summer, R.J. Moore left behind that legacy and transferred to Huntersville’s Ambassador Christian in hopes of continuing to develop his game on bigger stages.
Moore had 16 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists in his season debut at the Phenom Hoops’ Carmel Christian tipoff Friday. Ambassador fell to Winston-Salem Christian, 68-59.
“First off, he’s the top player in the state in his class,” Ambassador Christian Scott Taylor said of Moore, who is ranked No. 2 in N.C. in the Class of 2027 by 247sports.com. “So anytime you have a chance to coach a player who is the top player in his class in your state, it elevates the level of your program.”
A 6-foot-6, 165-pound shooting guard, R.J. Moore has grown up with a love for basketball. He’s the son of former NCAA champion basketball standout, overseas professional player and current North Carolina A&T assistant basketball coach Ricky Moore.
Ricky Moore is likely best known in North Carolina for scoring 13 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds in Connecticut’s 77-74 NCAA title game victory over Duke in 1999.
Taylor said that game was brought to life recently when current Duke associate head coach (and 1999 Duke starting forward) Chris Carrawell paid a visit to an Ambassador Christian practice to watch R.J. Moore and his teammates.
“I told him, ‘You know his dad,’” Taylor said he told Carrawell. Taylor said Carrawell told him: “Wow, that guy cost me a national championship!”
R.J. Moore says he’s seen tapes of the 1999 title game and grew up with watching his father as an assistant coach at Connecticut under Kevin Ollie for eight years, highlighted by a 2014 NCAA title run.
“Basketball has always been my whole life starting with when my dad was coaching at UConn,” R.J. Moore said. “Being around the game and being around my dad helped me gain more and more basketball knowledge. Around the seventh or eight grade I started thinking it was something I could do.”
At Corvian Community, R.J. Moore helped the Cardinals go 27-4 and finish as state runner-up as a freshman. After considering joining Ambassador Christian’s first team last year, he remained at Corvian and helped it win its state title with a 25-7 record.
“I was looking at Ambassador last year and was going to leave Corvian after my freshman year,” R.J. Moore said. “But my dad told me I should stay another year because we lost the championship my freshman year.”
Now at Ambassador Christian, he’s trying to help the Lions follow up a 21-6 debut season against another challenging schedule. Ambassador Christian will play in the John Wall Invitational in Raleigh in late December, and its schedule also includes games at the Outer Banks of N.C., Knoxville, Tennessee, and a Nov. 21 home game for the inaugural Steve Smith Classic against perennial national power Oak Hill, Virginia.
It also includes two games against state private school powers Carmel Christian and Davidson Day and a road game at state power Providence Day. “I just go out there and try to win the games and win the day,” said R.J. Moore, who has already made unofficial visits to Wake Forest, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee and is expected to visit South Carolina, Virginia, Michigan and possibly others.
Friday’s #BIG5 top performers
Bobby Montgomery, Queen’s Grant: In a 68-50 win over Combine Academy at the Phenom Hoops’ Carmel Christian tip-off, the 5-foot-9 sophomore guard had 29 points, three assists, two steals and two rebounds. He made nine 3-point shots.
Madison Drayton, Cannon School girls: Drayton had a game-high 22 points in a 75-43 win over Forsyth Country Day.
Elton James, Winston-Salem Christian: In a 68-59 win over Ambassador Christian at the Phenom Hoops’ Carmel Christian tip-off, James had 18 points, five rebounds and five steals.
Ayden Johnson, Caldwell Academy: In an 83-59 win over Carmel Christian, Johnson had 22 points, four assists, three rebounds and a steal. Teammate Neal Swindell had 21 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
R.J. Moore, Ambassador Christian: In a 68-59 loss to Winston-Salem Christian, the 6-7 junior had 16 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists.
Friday’s boys’ box scores
CALDWELL ACADEMY 83, CARMEL CHRISTIAN 59
CARMEL CHRISTIAN 59 —Haggerty 6, Wood 2, Griffin 9, Logan Johnson 10, Josh Gutierrez 12,Noch 6, Gerould 6, Jordan Buzzard 22, Vicks 4
CALDWELL ACADEMY 83 — King Kendrick 14, Ayden Johnson 22, Holland 2, Atkinson 2, CJJones 21, Neal Swindell 22
Notable: East Meck transfer Jordan Buzzard had 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks in his debut for Carmel.
QUEEN’S GRANT 68, COMBINE ACADEMY 50
QUEEN’S GRANT 68 — Bobby Montgomery 29, Scott 7, Mekhi Allen 16, DeBerry 4, Chase Smith 12
COMBINE ACADEMY 50 — Ivanovski 5, Chlton 3, Lyakine 6, Jeromy Davis 19, Elhadji Diallo 15
WINSTON-SALEM CHRISTIAN 68, AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN 59
AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN 59 — RJ Moore 16, King 8, Haney 7, Pryor 2, Jeremiah Franklin 11, Tyler Brown 15
WINSTON-SALEM CHRISTIAN 68 — Shirley 3, Kenyon St. Louis 12, Josiah Johnson-Freeman 10, Bradley Floyd 13, NicKcLeon 12, Elton James 18
Friday’s girls’ box scores
(Sweet 16 rankings included; tap here for full preseason poll)
NO. 1 CANNON SCHOOL 75, FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY 43
Cannon School 25 17 22 11 — 75
Forsyth Country Day 7 11 16 9 — 43 CANNON SCHOOL 75 — Jakaila Gaskin 10, C. Larkins 3, Love 2, Crowder 2, Madison Drayton 22, Truesdale 5, Hina Nakamura 12, Brooke Busby 10, Ndubueze 5, Thompson 4
Records: Cannon 1-1; Forsyth Country Day 0-1
WINSTON-SALEM CHRISTIAN 49, NO. 14 VICTORY CHRISTIAN 45 Victory Christian 9 7 11 18 — 45
WS Christian 15 10 13 11 — 49 VICTORY CHRISTIAN 45 — Hanna Tesfay 13, Aylin Villarreal 11, Lanice Yearwood 11
WS CHRISTIAN 49 — M. Mitchell 17, A. Gonzalez 12 Records: Victory 0-3
Thursday’s boys’ boxscores
QUEEN’S GRANT 83, SOUTHLAKE CHRISTIAN 63
Queen’s Grant 10 19 29 25 — 83
SouthLake 13 13 16 21 — 63
QUEEN’S GRANT 83 — Chase Smith 21, Bobby Montgomery 20, Preston Scott 10, Mekhi Allen 12, Cannon DeBerry 11, McSweeney 4, White 3
SOUTHLAKE 63 — Dillon Mason 26, Jalen Paige 16, Stubbs 8, Johnson 6, Remesal 5, Payne 2
WINSTON-SALEM CHRISTIAN 63, VICTORY CHRISTIAN 51
Victory 3 18 14 16 — 51
WSCSN 13 19 19 12 — 63
VICTORY CHRISTIAN 51 — Deshawn Coulter 15, Marshall 13, Johnson 10, Massengo 7, Showers 3, White 3
WINSTON-SALEM CHRISTIAN 63 — Kenyon St. Louis 13, Floyd 10, Johnson-Freeman 9, Thomas 8, McLean 7, Itumo 6, Shirley 6, Gorong 4
Records: VCCS 0-3, WSCSN 3-0
Notable: Carlos Marshall had 13 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals for Victory Christian.
Thursday’s girls’ boxscore
QUEEN’S GRANT 75, SOUTHLAKE CHRISTIAN 21
Queen Grant 28 23 17 7 — 75
Southlake Christian 11 4 2 4 — 21 QUEENS GRANT 75 — Hicks 4, Wilson 7, Haywood 2, Smith 8, Misa Garris 16, Za’Mya Bynum 27, Kendall Chisholm 11
SOUTHLAKE CHRISTIAN 21 — Stubbs 8, Browning 5, Barnett 6, Finch 2 Notables: Queen’s Grant Za’Mya Bynum had 27 points, seven rebounds, nine steals, two blocks and four assists. Teammates Misa Garris (16 points, 10 asissts, three rebounds, three steals) and Kendall Chisholm (11 points) had strong games.
Saturday’s Charlotte-area schedule
Phenom Hoops Carmel Christian Tip-Off
(at Carmel Christian)
(boys)
Gaston Christian vs. The Burlington School, 3 p.m.
Queen’s Grant Charter vs. Forsyth Country Day, 4:30 p.m.
Concord Academy vs. Combine Academy, 6 p.m.
Carmel Christian vs. Greensboro Day, 7:30 p.m.
Other games
Chatham Home School at South Charlotte Thunder (girls, 3 p.m.; boys, 4:30 p.m.)
This story was originally published November 7, 2025 at 10:14 PM.
