NJCU Athletics | May 22, 2020

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior small forward Jaimik Moore (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) of the men's basketball team has been named the 2020 recipient of the New Jersey City University True Grit Award. The NJCU Athletics Department announced the award on day 15 of The 2020 Gothics on May 22, during the Gothic Knights' virtual month-long awards series.


 
It is the sixth year the award has been presented to the Gothic Knight student-athlete who endured adversity and persevered to achieve academic success. This award was originally The Rising Knight Award before the focus of that award became community service based in 2018-19.
 
Moore, an Honorable Mention All-New Jersey Athletic Conference selection in his only season for the Gothic Knights, earned the distinction despite missing a full month of action—six games in all—due to a serious injury in late November.
 
Moore returned in mid-December and was named NJAC Player of the Week on December 30 and selected to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week. He was also named to the D3hoops.com Classic All-Tournament Team during NJCU's trip to Las Vegas—its first regular season games ever played west of the Mississippi River. Head Coach Marc Brown described Moore as NJCU's most valuable player and most consistent player this season. He was a finalist for NJCU Male Newcomer of the Year.
 
In 22 games (20 starts), he tallied 310 points, scoring in double figures 17 times with four 20-point performances and four double-doubles. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds (127 total), 2.1 assists (47 total) and 1.3 steals (29 total). He shot .473 from the field (105-222), .375 from three-point range (27-72) and an impressive .820 from the foul line (73-89). He ranked third on the team in scoring and 13th in the conference. In the NJAC he also ranked fifth in free throw percentage, fifth in offensive rebounding (2.5 per game), 13th in rebounding, 14th in field goal percentage, 15th in three-point percentage, 16th in steals and 21st in assists.
 
Moore played his first two seasons at Brookdale Community College where he was the Region 19 Player of the Year and helped lead the Jersey Blues to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DIII National Championship. 
 
He achieved a Division II scholarship to Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina where he averaged 9.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 17 games in 2018-19, before returning to New Jersey upon the birth of his son, Jaxon, and transferring to NJCU to complete his education and college basketball career.
 
Pete Vincent, the Assistant Director for the Rising Knight Institute said: "Jaimik, your story and your journey is a unique one, and one that we all feel consists of immeasurable sacrifice, adversity, and resilience to truly embody the definition of True Grit. Becoming a father just before arriving at NJCU and balancing that every day with financially supporting a family, playing basketball and maintaining your academics and then coping with a family loss are huge challenges for anyone, let alone a 24 year old to overcome."
 
"I speak for everyone in the NJCU community when I say that I am extremely proud of you for all that you have overcome this past year and for the work you are putting in everyday to make sure that you oversee your own successes in life and continue to move forward. Keep up the grind and keep pushing forward and persevering, because when it's all said and done you will be exactly where you want to be in life and you'll be able to say that you did it your way."
 
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PAST RECIPIENTS
YEAR	WINNER	NJCU SPORT
2014-15	Daque K. Wilcox	Men's Volleyball
2015-16	Jeremiah R. Williams	Men's Golf
2016-17	Hannah E. Gavin	Softball
2017-18	Samuel L. Toney	Men's Basketball
2018-19	Julia J. Caseres	Women's Soccer Alumni
2018-19	Dominick W. Castellano	Men's Volleyball
2019-20	Jaimik E. Moore	Men's Basketball
Historical Notes:
• The award was first presented during the return to the awards banquet format in April 2015