As if an All-American freshman year that put her among the names like Angel McCoughtry and Shoni Schimmel wasn’t enough, Mariya Moore spent a busy summer winning a gold medal with the U-19 United States National team in the FIBA World Championship.

Returning to campus in the fall after traveling to Spain and Russia, the 6-foot wing is considered one of the best sophomores in the country and was an Associated Press All-American honorable mention. Moore was also named to the preseason all-ACC team by both the Blue Ribbon Panel and the league’s 15 coaches.

Last season, Moore was the leading scorer, second in assists and fourth in rebounding on a 27-7 team that reached the Sweet 16.

But with the loss of five seniors from a year ago, Moore is now one of the veteran returners on a roster with eight newcomers.

Her experience overseas with the U-19 National team helped Moore gain a grasp of her expanded role.

“It was great experience, and I learned a lot,” Moore said. “I learned leadership to translate onto this team.”

Competing against international competition, Moore averaged 10.3 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game and helped to lead the U.S. to a perfect 7-0 record.

Head Coach Jeff Walz was assistant coach on the U-19 team, so he shared the experience with Moore and noticed her development as a leader.

“She was voted one of the co-captains on that team, so I think there were some players she was playing with that could see she has some leadership abilities,” Walz said. “She wants to win, and I think that’s where I saw a lot of her growth.”

But Moore won’t be the only leader on the team this season, as a she can rely on fellow sophomore Myisha Hines-Allen and redshirt junior Cortnee Walton.

Hines-Allen played alongside of Moore in every game last season and finished only behind her in scoring.

“I have Cortnee and Myisha to help with that,” Moore said. “We’re not the only leaders on the team. Everyone steps up during practice and puts ideas in to help the team.”

Coming to Louisville from Hercules, California, Moore knocked down a team high 62 three-pointers, finished third with 55 steals and was the fourth freshmen in program history to pass for more than 100 assists.

While Moore’s on court success can’t be denied, Walz would like to see a more consistent commitment in practice, which will help her continue to impact games.

“Mariya Moore is starting to understand that you put that work ethic in during practice in order to have more success during games,” Walz said. “She is starting to see that and doing good things for us.”

“He knows how competitive I am when the games come, so he wants me to take that and put it into focus and put it in the practice, too,” Moore said. “I never understood what he meant to be performing in a game like he wants me to. I never really understood what he meant until this year and people look up to me now. So I have to do this all the time so they know they can’t turn it off and on too.”

One thing that Moore hasn’t turned off is basketball.

After spending 27 days abroad traveling with U-19 National team, Moore returned home for two weeks before coming to Louisville for the fall semester. Even in the time off, Moore said she continued to work out and play basketball.

Earlier in the fall, Walz alluded to the Moore’s high level of physical conditioning and said he didn’t worry about her wearing down after the long summer of basketball abroad.

Whereas Moore was the only perimeter threat last year for the Cardinals, she is joined by a group of talented shooters this season.

Walz believes this will only help her to have more of an impact on the floor because she can utilize her passing and rebounding skills more.

Moore could possibly see a reduction in scoring after the nation’s top-rated recruiting class arrived to campus this year, but she will continue to stuff the stat sheet in more ways than one.

“I’ll be surprised to see anyone on our team to average 20, but we could easily have 4-6 players in double figures,” Walz said.

Regardless of how the scoring is distributed, Moore said the team is starting to come together after the first few weeks of practice when everyone is learning each other’s playing style.

“I expect for us to be really good,” Moore said. “We can gel as a team and even in the tough times, we can come together and do something special.”

After putting together one of the best freshman campaign’s in program history, Moore is poised to rekindle her success on the floor, and this time, as a leader as well.