By: Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – MBB Beat Reporter
San Jose State guard Omari Moore and UNLV guard Bryce Hamilton are set to face each other tonight. Both are standouts for their respective schools, but this isn’t the story of two of the Mountain West’s best players facing off against each other in January. Tonight showcases a matchup between friends that dates back to simpler times of life.
“Bryce and I are both from Pasadena and have known each other since elementary school even since 6, 7 years old,” Moore said. We’ve been playing in little leagues together, stuff like that so I’ve known him forever, played against him for a very long time.”
The two knew each other when basketball was an activity at recess and an ample way of meeting other kids who lived near you. There was a cunning lack of complexity that is now ingrained into their current perspective of the game.
They were both a part of a memorable Pasadena High School Bulldogs starting five that produced four Division I players, but the two had different roles.
Hamilton was the star that couldn’t burn any brighter, averaging nearly 20 points for a Bulldogs squad that lost in the California Interscholastic Federation championship game to a Chino Hills squad led by Onyeka “Big O” Okongwu. If the name sounds familiar, Okungwu was a regular off the bench for the Atlanta Hawks during their incredible playoff run that found them just a couple wins short of making the NBA Finals in 2021.
During the Bulldogs’ run through Southern California, Moore was seen as a solid role player who helped the team succeed, but it didn’t seem a career in Division I basketball was in the cards. Moore graduated without any offers and decided to enroll at Middlebrooks Academy to shuffle the deck and see if he could get a better hand.
It was during this time of uncertainty that Hamilton provided unwavering support that built confidence into Moore.
“He’s a great friend of mine so he’s always been supportive for me even when I didn’t have any scholarships and he was doing great, Moore said. He was … telling me that I’m going to get my opportunity and just take advantage of it. So he’s definitely been a part of my support system over these past couple years.”
During that crucial year at Middlebrooks, Moore picked up wind in his sails averaging 20 points a night and from there Hamilton’s support turned from wishful to prophetic.
When the two face off tonight, all memories of their friendship are erased as if both got zapped by the neuralyzer in Men in Black.
A chuckling Moore mentions that this matchup “is a bit personal,” referencing the infamous Michael Jordan quote from The Last Dance documentary.
When asked if he would do the infamous Michael Jordan shrug on Hamilton if he scored in his face, the response was immediate.
“I have no choice.”
Presidents, weather and gas prices have changed since the two first became friends, but that initial bond formed through competition has remained strong as oak.