When most preseason top freshmen rankings in New Jersey by those in the "know" came out in September, Devon Moffatt’s name was not included. Name such as St. Anthony’s Marcus Williams, Bloomfield Tech’s Courtney Nelson, or "Big" John Oates of Don Bosco kept repeatedly showing up on everyone’s list, but no Devon. All of those young pups lived up to their hype and then some, however the staff of Metro Hoops felt that no freshman was as instrumental to a teams improvement this year as Clifton’s Devon Moffatt.

This son of a boxer and oldest of seven kids, spent last spring playing in obscurity for the Montclair Knights AAU team. However those in Clifton knew about Moffatt, as he averaged 33 points per game in middle school, and led his team to the city championship. This year Devon was more than just a typical freshman role player on varsity was. He was a factor!

He led Clifton to the Group 4 Sectional Semifinals – losing to eventual Group 4 Champs Passiac. This is quite a turnaround for a Clifton team that finished 8–16 last year. Clifton has not been this far in the State tournament in 27 years. This would not have been possible without the arrival of Devon Moffatt on the Clifton High Campus – which is the 2^nd largest school in New Jersey with well over 3500 students.

The Numbers

This year Devon scored over 500 pts this year – actually he scored 513 pts. He’s on pace for a 2000 points in his high school career. He also broke the school record 3-point by dropping 62 3-pointers. Yes "62". Hey this kid is the truth. Head coach Pete Vasil describes Devon as a "very focused, tenacious, and highly versatile player. He spends most of his time at the two guard, however, he also plays plenty of minutes at the 3 spot. Coach Vasil loves to point out that "For a freshman to be averaging 20 points a game in the NNJIL …which is the best conference in the state, speaks for itself". The NNJIL includes Passiac, Passiac Tech, and Teaneck.

The Skills

Don’t sleep on Devon’s skills, he has the total package, not only does he have a serious jump shot, but also at 6-1 he has mad hops! When you first see him, you notice the big hands. He has the hands of a guy 6-8 or 6-9, which give him the ability to do some hot dunks! It was an incredible drop step dunk on a kid from Paramus that brought Devon into the spotlight. Moffatt said, "It was after that dunk that everybody wanted to talk to me". "It got crazy," said Devon. "The phone would not stop ringing" as many of the major AAU programs were in hot pursuit of his services.

Because of Devon’s special relationship with his head coach (met him 4 years ago at summer camp in Clifton) he committed to Clifton despite the few schools that have tried to entice him to leave Clifton for greener pastures; so they say! Devon Says, "I want to build something here at Clifton".

Keeping it Real!

Despite all the hype the family has kept him very humble. Devon is actually still quite bashful when it come to talking about his accolades. You can’t talk to him more than five minutes without him quoting some of the life lessons that his mom and pop have tried to teach. "My dad told me not to get a big head, and keep on working". "I’m going to stay focused, and work to get better, because I’m no longer a secret, and guys will get hyped-up to play against me".

The Future

Devon actually quoted a line from an earlier Metro Hoops article on the top freshman in New Jersey " It not where you ranked today but where you are three years from now". He is fully aware that there are things that he needs to work on. "Devon is never satisfied," Vasil said. "He has a drive that he's never going to get complacent. He's the type of kid that will go to the courts at 6 a.m. with his father to run hills and work on drills and take 300 shots." Coach Vasil truly believes that Devon will be an All-State material by his Senior Year! Coach we at Metro Hoops agree Congratulation Devon!

By the way Riverside Church won the AAU war for Devon services this summer! He has also been invited to the Nike Jr. All-American Camp in California.