Goldsboro's Moses headed to Norfolk State

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 6, 2016 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

LaTina Bullock decided it was time for "the talk."

One afternoon before practice, she called Goldsboro senior guard Tyona Moses into her office. The two discussed the upcoming season and Bullock said she expected Moses to score.

But there were other parts, too.

Moses needed to share the ball, get her teammates involved in the offense and help them build confidence. She had to develop a stronger presence on the basketball court and give encouragement, even when frustration may have tempted her to lose focus.

Oh, but Bullock wasn't done.

She organized the plan to help prepare Moses for the next level.

"Ty is a hot commodity," Bullock said. "Every coach knows she is a great athlete. understatement. To be a well-rounded player, getting your teammates involved will not only help them, but it helps you because when you get to the next level, it's team ball.

"It's nothing individual. You play as a team. You have to win as a team."

Moses didn't experience fatigue on the court this season.

The fleet-footed shooting guard, who would pull the trigger from Highway 70, didn't feel the pressure of carrying her team on her shoulders.

The players gained trust in each other.

Moses will encounter all of that next season as a freshman after she recently signed a national letter-of-intent to play at Norfolk State University -- Bullock's alma mater.

A soft-spoken and humble individual, Moses is the fourth Wayne County girls' player to sign a Division I scholarship this season. Eastern Wayne's Naheria Hamilton is headed to Coastal Carolina, Rosewood's Lexi Mercer is going to Elon U and Southern Wayne's Zaire Catkins inked with Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne.

"At first I had options, but then I went and visited the school," said Moses, who was courted by Elizabeth City State and Adelphi University.

"I kind of had a vibe with the team...the head coach (Larry Vickers) I really liked. He showed me the ins and outs. When I get there, I might have one-on-one workouts with him. (Or) three-on-three workouts with my teammates and eventually the whole team will work out together."

Moses averaged 26.6 points a game this season for the Cougars, who finished as the Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference regular-season runner-up for the third consecutive year. She amassed 1,950 points for her career, including a school-record 55-point outing against North Brunswick in the playoffs.

Goldsboro won 67 games during Moses' career.

Bullock expects Moses to prosper in the college game and eventually adjust to the physicality. Her strength is her court savvy and her willingness -- at times -- to sacrifice her body by slashing through an opposing defense to the basket.

Moses shot 80 percent from the charity stripe.

"I've told her to expect the girls to be much better than who she has come up against her past four years," Bullock said. "There's going to be girls who are just as talented and can do a lot of things that she can't, so she's going to have to adjust how she plays.

"She'll need to put in more work than what she is used to doing up to this point ... that is going to help her excel against the players she comes up against in the future."

Moses smiled.

"Weight room," she said.

Norfolk State finished 3-24 this past winter. Vickers took over the team after the head coach was dismissed at midseason by school officials. The Trojans haven't posted a winning campaign since 2001-02 when they won 22 games, claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Division I playoffs.