Laney College sophomore basketball player Chermayne Moore is Utah-bound.
Moore, a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard, signed a letter-of-intent recently to attend Dixie State University in St. George, Utah.
“Chermayne started playing for me when she was in the eighth grade,” Laney coach Ron Williams said. “She was a very good defensive player and always worked really hard.
“Last year she really added the offensive piece (of her game) and this year she really turned it on.”
Moore was never better offensively when she scored 35 points, including seven 3-pointers, in a 104–58 victory over Yuba College on Feb. 5.
Moore, from Hercules High School, averaged 18.1 points a game for the Eagles, who finished with a 14–14 record but qualified for the Northern California Regionals for the fifth straight year.
While at Dixie State, Moore plans to major in nursing or radiology. “I’m kind of interested in that (radiology) because they have a really good program there,” Moore said. “It all depends on where I’m at academically.
“I took a trip to Dixie and it was ‘Why am I going to Utah?’ But once I got there it wasn’t anything like what I thought it would be.”
Moore projects that will be a “two,” or shooting guard, and that she will be looked upon to provide some offense.
“Dixie kind of pulled the trigger on it because they figured she was someone they knew they needed,” Williams said.
Dixie finished with a 14–14 record and went 11–9 in the Pacific West Conference. Dixie advanced to the second round of the conference tournament.
Catherria Turner is in her second year as head coach at Dixie; she previously coached at Holy Names University in Oakland.
Moore is just the latest Laney player to transfer to a four-year school.
Williams estimates “12 or 13” players have gone on to play at four-year schools since the Laney women’s basketball program was reinstated in 2008.