University of Arkansas basketball signee Chance Moore’s humbleness and kind gesture won’t go unnoticed by Razorbacks fan Aydan Grossmann anytime soon.
Grossmann, who turns 18 years old on Sunday, reached out to Moore on Instagram over the weekend to inquire about tickets to his home game on Tuesday after thinking the game was sold out.
“I didn’t think he was going to respond, but he did and it was actually pretty fast,” Grossmann said. “He text me his actual phone number.”
Moore, a 6-5, 192-pound wing from Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern, inked with Arkansas over scholarship offers from LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Florida, Ole Miss, Clemson, South Carolina and others.
The ESPN 4-star prospect gave Grossmann a link to order tickets online, and on Tuesday, Grossmann and his father, Tom, showed up at McEachern’s game against Peeblebrook decked out in Razorbacks gear.
Moore put on a show for his parents and the Grossmanns by scoring 32 points and hitting the game winning three-point shot in the Indians’ 66-65 victory.
The game was the first sporting event for the Grossmanns to attend since watching former Hog Mason Jones hit the game winning three-pointer against Georgia Tech in Coach Eric Musselman’s first season.
Seeing Grossmann and his father in the stands added to Moore’s special evening.
“It meant a lot to see that some Arkansas supporters came to check me out in an important game, too,” Moore said. “It was also my senior night and hitting the game winner as well made it very special.”
Moore and his father John traveled to Fayetteville on Aug. 8. Moore was likely to commit to the Hogs, but after being in Arkansas for a few hours, he was reassured Fayetteville was the place for him because of the friendliness of the community.
“For me it just kind of reiterated of what I’ve already come to learn, Arkansas fans are very loyal die-hard fans,” said John Moore, a plaintiff litigation lawyer in the Atlanta area. “Meeting them, and them taking the opportunity to come watch Chance play kind of further proved to me how loyal Arkansas’ fan base is.”
Moore’s mother Julie Fincher, a regional HR hiring manager, and stepfather Eddie Fincher spotted the Grossmanns cheering on Chance during the game. After the thrilling victory, Eddie approached the father and son and brought them to where he and Julie and John were sitting.
“We wanted to thank them for coming because we would never take anything like that for granted,” said Julie, who is also a small business owner that focuses on personal and professional development for individuals, “It was so special that someone would take the time out of their busy day and come and want to be a part of that, so we were extremely excited and grateful.”
Eddie, who’s the head of schools at Cumberland Christian Academy in the Atlanta area, was equally thankful while also envisioning Chance’s future as a Razorback.
“I know I’m at McEachern’s ball game, but in my mind I got a chance to take a glimpse into the future,” Fincher said. “Here’s Chance playing, and you have Arkansas fans cheering for him. It almost made me feel like I was there in Arkansas.”
The elder Grossmann attended Fair High School in Little Rock before graduating from Arkansas in 1991. Aydan was born in Georgia but moved to Arkansas at 1-year-old before he and his family moved back to the Peach State 10 years later.
Tom Grossmann’s sister Angi Orsini and her husband Alex, a Little Rock cardiologist, are huge Razorback fans.
A senior at nearby Allatoona, Aydan plans to study pre-med at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta and eventually attend medical school.
Living in Georgia has allowed Grossmann and his father opportunities to watch some future NFL Draft picks, but for the younger Grossmann, that doesn’t compare to seeing Moore in action.
“I got to watch Trevor Lawrence, and Justin Fields and I think this was better,” Aydan Grossmann said.