Christian Moody is the best walk-on in the country.

No, this isn’t the stereotypical reserve that plays 21 minutes a season. Moody is a 6-foot-8 junior forward who starts for Kansas, plays 21 minutes per game and is sidekick to National Player of the Year candidate Wayne Simien.

‘I think in a way he is embarrassed by it,’ said Kansas head coach Bill Self.

Embarrassed or not, Moody leads the Jayhawks (18-1, 8-0 Big 12) in field goal percentage (59 percent) and has scored in every game in which he has appeared, averaging more than six points and nearly five rebounds.

‘There is this feeling I get every time I put on that ’34’ jersey,’ Moody said. ‘I can’t really explain it; you just don’t get it anywhere else.’

Over the last three seasons, Moody has gone from invited walk-on to the talk of campus. He came to Kansas from the same high school Roy Williams went to – T.C. Roberson High School in Ashville, N.C. As a senior in 2002, Moody was a nominee for North Carolina’s Mr. Basketball award; but he didn’t take the honors. Upon graduation, he didn’t receive any scholarship offers, either.

Luckily for Moody, former Kansas coach Roy Williams was only a couple of phone calls away. The current North Carolina head coach is a 1968 grad of T.C. Roberson. At Roberson, Williams was coached by Buddy Baldwin. Moody’s high school coach, Rich Sizemore, is the only other man to run the sidelines since Baldwin did so 40 years ago.

So Moody’s coach called Baldwin – a mentor and longtime friend to Williams – and told him about an athletic, exceptionally smart kid on his team. Baldwin said he would call Williams and see what he could do.

Williams did more than give Moody a look – he gave him a home.

‘This was a kid who was smart, talented and had a great work ethic,’ Williams said. ‘To bring in a kid and not have it count as a scholarship, who just wants to be there and work hard, I said to myself this is a win-win situation.’

A week later, Sizemore sat Moody down in his office and asked him what he thought about Kansas.

‘I was speechless,’ Moody said. ‘To go to a place with as much tradition and with Coach Williams, I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.’

There was only one problem. Moody, who plans on attending medical school and becoming a doctor when his playing days are over, found out KU doesn’t have a pre-med program. He opted for biology instead.

During his freshman year, Moody didn’t play any meaningful minutes, as Kansas advanced to the National Championship game against Syracuse. The following summer, Williams left for his alma mater at Chapel Hill and Moody was left in limbo.

‘I was nervous,’ Moody said. ‘We didn’t know who they were going to bring in, and I didn’t know if they were going to keep me.’

Moody thought about following Williams to North Carolina, but he stayed to meet Self. He played more his sophomore season (seven minutes per game) but with just 35 points in 25 games, Moody was still just a walk-on.

‘When I first saw him I thought maybe this is a guy who can help us down the road,’ Self said.

Down the road became last spring. David Padgett , a 6-foot-11 center, left for Louisville and Omar Wilkes transferred to California. The door was open, and Moody slid right into the starting lineup.

Self brought in a trio of recruits, but Moody is filling the void for the only undefeated team left in the Big 12. He is making a name for himself as possibly one of the best walk-ons ever.

‘If you had asked me if he could have started for this team last summer,’ Self said, ‘I probably would have said ‘No’. Now, I don’t think anyone can take the role from him.’

Moody and the near-perfect Jayhawks go for its 19th win tonight at Kansas State. He probably won’t do anything too flashy, but if you watch the solid, smart play of the North Carolina native, remember one thing – he’s a walk on.

Game of the week:

Savannah State is 0-25. Go ahead and laugh if you need to, but this Georgia school has only two more chances for a win. On Friday, the Independent will try to avoid becoming the first team to go winless since Prairie View (0-28) did so in 1991-92. It will play on the road against Bethune Cookman.

Savannah State lost by nine (73-64) in its other meeting with Bethune Cookman in January. That loss was one of just two games in which Savannah State has been within single digits this season. It has dropped contests by 36, 34, 33, 31 (twice), 28(twice) and 62.

Published on February 8, 2005 at 12:00 pm