Over the past 72 hours, Annette Moyer’s phone has been “ringing off the hook,” she told The Daily Orange. Dozens of college coaches at Power 5 programs have called her to inquire about her son, Matthew Moyer, who announced Monday that he would leave the Syracuse program.

Moyer did not return a phone call, and his mother declined to explain why he left the program. But she said Moyer plans to make about three official visits as he decides on his next destination. When he finalizes his next stop, Moyer will arrive at the beginning of the summer. Among his top options are Xavier and Stanford, she said. He already has declined offers from “blue-blood programs,” she said, because he wants to be “challenged academically.”

The Ohio native originally chose the Orange over offers from Arizona State, Butler, Florida, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Wisconsin, among others. He became “very interested” in Syracuse because he developed a strong relationship with SU assistant coach Gerry McNamara, Annette said. Moyer said that McNamara “found me in Ohio” and knocked on Moyer’s door because he wanted Moyer to play for SU.

Moyer’s mother said neither she nor his father wanted him to play at Syracuse out of high school, but Moyer dreamed of playing for the Orange since he was a little kid. He redshirted the entirety of last season and struggled this year in his only active season with Syracuse, oftentimes getting chastised by head coach Jim Boeheim.

“Obviously coach Boeheim can be tough sometimes,” Moyer said last week.

Moyer was the first SU men’s basketball scholarship player to be a student in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. That did not factor into Moyer’s decision to leave, she said. Moyer elected to major in Newhouse because of its prestige, not necessarily because he had intentions of a career in communications.

Annette added that several coaches who recruited Moyer in high school have told her this week that they are still interested in him. That’s despite his career at SU hitting a few roadblocks — notably an injury on Jan. 24 that contributed to him losing a spot in the starting lineup. Coaches have told Annette that they could “work him into the program well.”

Published on March 29, 2018 at 5:46 pm

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