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The Troup boys basketball team has enjoyed a revival over the last couple of seasons and junior forward Dee Moreland has been at the heart of the turnaround. 

The high-flying Tigers went from afterthought to region runner-up during Moreland’s first two seasons with the varsity team. After a tumultuous freshman season in which the team finished 10-17 and missed the playoffs, the Tigers had to rebuild under first-year head coach Vacher Hammett, who coached Moreland for a season at Long Cane Middle School.

“He knows a lot of us so well and he has been working us even harder this year, and now we know what to expect from him too,” Moreland said. “He’s a great coach.” 

Moreland was key to the team’s lightning-quick turnaround in the 2023-24 season. The Tigers developed into a really strong unit down the stretch of that season and ended up finishing as region runner-up and making the state playoffs for the first time since 2020.

“The atmosphere in those games is crazy,” Moreland said. “The deeper you go, the bigger the crowds get and I feel like we really started to make a name for ourselves at the end of last season,” Moreland said. 

The Tigers have a plethora of players that can fill numerous roles. Moreland is one such player. He can play scorer or playmaker on any given night where he can operate out of the post or the perimeter.

“I don’t think of myself as a scorer, but if we need some buckets I will go out there and score, but I’m looking to always get my teammates involved first,” he said. 

The one major area of his game that Moreland felt was lacking after his sophomore season was physicality. So what did he do to help him get stronger and more physical? Join the Troup High football team.

“I want to play football this year to help me get more physical. Because, as you can tell, we’re not the biggest team. So that would make me have to go against big and we had to bang. And so my time playing football and in the weight room has made me more physical and allowed bang with the bigs,” he said. 

It has worked. Moreland is banging with the bigs in the post and outrebounding larger opponents thanks to the work he put in with the football team over the last year.

This was Moreland’s first year playing football since his youth. He played a little of everything growing up, but the hardwood always called his name.

“My mom really got me into the sport,” Moreland said. “My mom was, she was a D1 basketball player, and my Nana, she was also good at basketball too, so it kind of just runs in my family.

Moreland’s basketball journey is showing no signs of slowing down. The junior currently plays with AE5 AAU team and has his eyes on playing at the next level.

“I’ve been wanting to play in college for as long as I can remember,” Moreland said. “It is all about finding the right school and the right fit.”