Prince-Alexander Moody is Setting the Standard for Indiana in his Freshman Year

Prince-Alexander Moody was a player that fans got super excited about the second he first stepped on the court at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The true freshman out of District Heights, Maryland, is a phenomenally polished freshman guard who understands how he needs to work his way on the court. He became a fan favorite in an exhibition game against Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf before the team went to Lima, Peru, for the FISU games. Moody immediately earned the respect of the Hoosier faithful for his defensive plays, and then sent the crowd wild with his three-point shooting.

He loved the crowd reactions. He will always be a man to cater to the crowd.

“I love living in the moment,” Moody said. “It’s going to be amazing. I like getting the fans involved and stuff like that. So you’re going to see a lot of that this year”.

Moody loves the crowd reactions, and the crowd will likely have a mutual relationship with him. He is a prime example of the player who just understands what he is on the team to do. He has a genuine smile on his face when talking about playing defense, and he understands that defense is how he will play on the court.

“I ain’t going to lie, I have to play defense. If I want to get on the floor, I got to play defense,” Moody said.

The roles on this basketball team seem to be way clearer in year two of Darian DeVries than they were in year one of his coaching tenure at IU. Moody’s role is playing defense and helping to run the offense off the bench. Moody does this role with great pride.

“I mean, of course it’s a pride thing,” Moody said. “I grew up playing defense, and then I kind of stopped… I think I’ve been doing a good job just adjusting and, you know, talking to the coaches, asking for help and what’s what to do, what to do there, and watching film and stuff like that”.

Moody just seems to be more mature in his basketball knowledge than your typical freshman. He isn’t after scoring points; he is chasing after wins. Even as a freshman, this style of play could become contagious for the rest of the team. Moody’s basketball mind is mature, but his heart is what makes him such a promising freshman.

“It’s a heart thing. So when I’m guarding bigger players fronting the post and just having more heart than them,” Moody said.

Moody showed off this basketball heart in the FISU games, helping Indiana get the flawless championship. The teams they faced off against weren’t the same caliber of opponent as they will face in the Big Ten schedule, but Indiana and Moody are always working to get even better.

“I wake up before everybody,” Moody said. “I found some mistakes. So I got to wake up. I just taught myself to just wake up and just get the work done and do what I need to do. So I’ll wake up, work out, and I’ll be in here”.

As a freshman, Moody sets his own standard for how much work he has to get done. He knows he can be a great player, but he knows he is not there yet. Moody isn’t just meeting the Indiana standard, but he is raising the bar.

Pretty soon, every IU fan will know the name Prince-Alexander Moody.