Moon a big boost for Signal Mountain

Harrison Moon, the biggest player to be produced by Signal Mountain, is top-ranked among Chattanooga area senior college prospects. The 6-foot-7, 280-pound tackle will play both ways this year for the Eagles although the majority of his playing time will be on the offensive side of the ball. He recently visited with the Times Free Press after picking Mississippi State over Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, South Florida and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Q: You're committed to Mississippi State. How solid is that commitment?

"I'm 100 percent committed to Mississippi State. I haven't talked to any college recruiters since I committed other than the ones I had built relationships with to thank them for recruiting me. UTC was probably the toughest to call. They were my first offer, and I had built such a great relationship with Coach (Russ) Huesman and Coach (Will) Healy. I hope to have a lifelong relationship with Coach Healy. That friendship made it all the harder to call them."

Q: Your high school career began with you playing tight end. Did you think you'd always be a tight end or you'd eventually move to tackle?

"I thought I'd be able to keep my weight down and be a tight end, but at the combines and camps I attended I was told I'd eventually be playing with my hand on the ground on the line. I didn't like it at first, but I eventually embraced the idea and now I love it. It's more physical at tackle but not by a whole lot."

Q: You say you're a pretty good artist. What do you intend to study in Starkville and what do you want to be doing in 10 years if you're not playing football?

"I either want to study graphic design or communications. I'm actually a pretty good writer. I want to do something to keep me around sports - maybe write for a newspaper, Rivals.com or ESPN.

Q: What's your pregame ritual?

"I listen to music - upbeat rap - something that gets me pumped up and ready to go. I don't really sleep but I close my eyes. It's kind of a message that I don't want any distractions, that I'm getting in my zone."

Q: Baylor quarterback Nick Tiano committed to Mississippi State the same week you did. Is there a friendship there?

"We're still planning to room together. I was actually talking about that today. We've been good friends almost two years now. We got to know each other through the recruiting process and talked about how cool it would be to wind up on a team together. We never thought it would actually happen until we committed."

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

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