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Published May 25, 2020
Australian OL Jordan Moko quickly sees his recruiting stock rise
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Hod Rabino  •  ASUDevils
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The word potential is at times viewed as an unflattering term when used in the connotation of a player who is unable to maximize his God-given abilities. Yet, when it comes to Jordan Moko, a player who has yet to even practice, let alone play a game for Snow (Utah.) College, it is actually the 6-5 330-pound Australian offensive lineman's own potential that netted him nearly double-digit Power 5 offers, including ASU, for in less than a month.

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“I’ve been in contact with Arizona State for a couple of weeks and they offered a few days ago (May 17th),” Moko said. “Antonio Pierce is the coach recruiting me. He was in JUCO and has kind of walked my journey that I want to walk. I really like the experience he and the offensive line coach (Kevin Mawae) had in the NFL. Having that experience and having a guy like Antonio Pierce who knows where I come from appeals to me a lot.”


In his native Australia, Moko mostly played rugby which is arguably the country's most popular sport. However, it wasn’t the athletic career route he wished to go through.


“I always wanted to play college ball but there wasn’t a real pathway,” Moko recalled. “I signed with a semi-professional rugby club and this coach came in from America to coach at my local club. He told me that if ‘you dedicate your whole life to football, you’ll go to college, you’ll live your dream.’ So, I dropped everything rugby related, and managed to get to a camp on the Gold Coast here in Australia and a Snow College scout was there. So that’s been my journey I guess you could say.


“All the coaches said that they like my athleticism, how quick I am and don’t look fat for someone who is 6-5 330. I’m a very aggressive and physical player. Obviously not playing football for long (played one year of Australian rules football) I need to improve on my football IQ. Australian rules football is less technical because it’s all about getting the ball and running straight as hard as you can. In American football you have to be athletic especially when you’re pulling.”


Moko was very eager to begin his college football career and participating in Snow College’s spring practice, which would his first ever taste of American football. Alas, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the collective college football schedule, and after spending just a few months on the Ephraim, Utah campus taking classes he returned home to Australia.

“I’m definitely looking to come back,” Moko remarked, “hopefully by June or worst case scenario by the beginning of July because our classes start in August so I hope I could get back into the country. It’s not too bad being back home now, because like I love setting up my home gym and I’ve been working out every single day.”

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By his admission, Moko wasn’t dedicated to academics during his high school years. His approach has changed drastically as he works to graduate in the spring of 2021 and have three years of eligibility left.


“I’m doing 12 credits now,” Moko Described, “I did about 17 credits in the spring. 18 to do in the fall, and then another 18 to do in the spring. It’s pretty hard because I never really liked school and I didn’t have a good GPA, But this what you got to do to get where you want to go get to.”


What has been easy in comparison is garnering scholarship offers. ASU, both Oregon Schools, Cal, TCU, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Utah are some of the more notable offers Moko has received to date.


“It was kind of a big surprise to me getting all those offers,” Moko commented. “And to be honest, I’ve got a lot of offers at the moment and stuff but I just don’t let it get to my head because I haven’t made it yet and I know I’m going to keep my grades up and work on competing with the best of the best.


“All the schools I’m looking at have great facilities, so the first thing I’m going to look at when I choose a school is the relationship I have with the coaches. The way I’m able to talk to coach Pierce, the relationship I have with him and the other (ASU) coaches is probably what stands out to me. My fiancé is going to move out here when I play D-I and the Arizona State coaches talked about this and showed how much they care.”



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Jesse Morrison contributed to this article

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