After bringing home two Big 5 MVP awards, Arcata High’s Luke Moxon is headed to the University of Montana to play Division I basketball with the Grizzlies in the Big Sky Conference.
Moxon becomes the first H-DNL player to leap straight from Humboldt County high school hoops to Division I basketball in recent memory. During Moxon’s time with the Tigers, Arcata either finished first or tied for first in each season. Moxon brought home his first Big 5 MVP as a sophomore in 2023 before missing much of his junior season with an injury and coming back strong as a senior.
The standout traits that made him a D-1 recruit also made Moxon stand out locally, with his ability to rise above the rim being unlike anyone else’s in the area. Moxon’s windmill dunk against Del Norte this January looked like something you’d see on ESPN and now he joins a school fresh off of a NCAA March Madness Tournament appearance.
Montana won the Big Sky Conference tournament and finished with an overall record of 25-10. Montana’s head coach Travis DeCuire has been with the Grizzlies for 11 seasons and has led them to three NCAA Tournament appearances. DeCuire has racked up an all-time record of 226-134 and is the winningest coach in school history.
Moxon, who’s currently 6’3” and 210 lbs, played for several different AAU teams locally to help prepare himself, which helped him catch the eye of the North Bay Basketball Academy (NBBA) before attending college camps, including one in Missoula, Montana.
“I went to Montana’s Elite Camp and then I stayed in touch with the coaches and it all worked out,” Moxon said. “It was cool, I got to meet players from all around the country and still talk to them today.”
The NBBA spotted Moxon and his Tiger teammate Luke Lemke at a high school game where Arcata was facing Marin Catholic and the Lukes impressed enough to be offered spots on the NBBA teams.
“Got to be at the right place at the right time and put yourself out there,” Moxon said of being spotted by the NBBA.
Once at the NBBA, Moxon found himself on a team filled with outstanding players and had to learn how to find his role, which is something he’ll likely experience again in Montana.
“It was all the best players from their high school teams,” Moxon said. “I’m more of a sit back-type person and just do my job and I was on a team full of guys who just want to take over. It was hard to find my spot, but it was good experience for me.”
The Montana Grizzlies players worked as coaches at the camp that Moxon attended and now a year later, they’ll be Moxon’s teammates as he prepares for Division I action. That action will wait till next year though, as Moxon plans to use a redshirt season for his first year in Montana.
“It’s going to be a different dynamic than it was,” Moxon said of his new teammates. “It still doesn’t feel real.”
Moxon calls getting the chance to play Division I “a dream,” but heading straight to Montana makes younger hoopers in the area, who share that dream, feel like it’s a bit more obtainable after seeing someone from Humboldt County do it.
“It’s really cool that people can see that it’s possible,” Moxon said. “Hopefully, the younger generation can flourish off of it.”
When Moxon got the offer from Montana, he got to share that moment with his parents, who he credits for making his dream become reachable.
“All the hard work that my family has put in for me. Everyone who has helped me, it was pretty cool to enjoy that with them,” Moxon said. “Without them, without all their hard work and all the money they spent to get me to those places, it wouldn’t have happened. I’m very thankful for them.”
Before getting the offer from Montana, Moxon was mostly speaking to Division II programs and some junior college programs. One of those D-II programs that Moxon was talking with was Cal Poly Humboldt. Moxon expects to play as a shooting guard with the Grizzlies but he knows he has a lot of work to do.
“It’s a whole other level,” Moxon said of D-I basketball. “You’ve got to get stronger, you’ve got to shoot better, you’ve got to get better at all these things. It’s been a grind.”
Dylan McNeill can be reached at 707-441-0526.
