Owls' Moore won't enter draft, after all

Ramone Moore changed his mind.

After a conference call Saturday with family members and his mentor, the Temple shooting guard decided not to file paperwork to enter the NBA draft. The previous day, the 6-foot-4 redshirt junior had told The Inquirer that he would apply for the draft.

"It was basically a family decision," Moore said, in a statement, about changing his mind. "We talked it over this morning and I realized that my main focus was to stay in school, earn my degree, and play my senior year at Temple."

According to a source, Moore "decided to enter his senior year at Temple without any distractions. He didn't want to make coach Fran Dunphy mad.

"He didn't want to make it seem all about him and his dream to make it in the NBA. That would have distracted from the team and the team's goal."

Dunphy, however, made it clear that he wouldn't have had a problem if Moore had entered his name in the draft.

"Ramone is always a team guy," Dunphy said. "He would be a team guy if he tested the waters, and a team guy if he didn't test the waters."

Sunday is the deadline to file for the NBA draft. Underclassmen who don't hire agents may withdraw their names before May 8 without losing NCAA eligibility. The draft is scheduled for June 23.

Moore wasn't going to hire an agent and always intended to come back for his senior season. His only goal for entering his name was to receive NBA evaluations during workouts.

Moore averaged a team-leading 15.2 points to go with 4.2 rebounds this past season for the Owls (26-8). He was named second-team all-Atlantic Ten Conference in his first season as a full-time starter.