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Duncanville’s Dakorien Moore is SportsDayHS’ top Dallas-area recruit for the Class of 2025

As the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation, No. 1 player in Texas and fourth-best player in America, Moore is one of the highest-rated recruits to ever come out of North Texas.

DUNCANVILLE -- In his 30-plus years as a high school football coach, Duncanville’s Reginald Samples has witnessed no shortage of greatness emerge from his programs.

Even he says wide receiver Dakorien Moore is in his own category.

Samples couldn’t name more than four players in his career who played on a varsity team he coached as a freshman. Even fewer have been starters. Moore is one of them.

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As the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation, No. 1 player in Texas and fourth-best player in America, Moore (5-11, 175) — the No. 1 Dallas-area recruit in the Class of 2025 — is one of the highest-rated recruits to ever come out of North Texas.

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Duncanville’s Dakorien Moore (1) pushes past Galena Park North Shore’s Chace Calicut (33)...
Duncanville’s Dakorien Moore (1) pushes past Galena Park North Shore’s Chace Calicut (33) during the first half of the Class 6A Division I state championship game on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

His .9986 composite ranking by 247sports places him higher than last year’s No. 1 area recruit, Duncanville defensive lineman Colin Simmons (.9948); higher than Evan Stewart (.9940), the last Dallas-area wide receiver to lead the recruiting rankings; and even higher than Allen’s Kyler Murray (.985) back in 2015. He’s the highest-rated recruit to come out of the area since Quinn Ewers had a perfect 1.000 rating in 2021.

The five-star recruit, who helped lead Duncanville to back-to-back Class 6A Division I state championships in 2022 and 2023, put up impressive numbers as a junior, catching 71 passes for 1,523 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also averaged 21.5 yards per catch.

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His junior year accolades, which earned him first-team all-area honors, showed an immense progression from where he started as a freshman. His first two seasons on varsity, Moore combined for just over 1,100 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. Duncanville’s offensive strategy simply didn’t emphasize the pass.

“He wasn’t happy,” Samples said. “We were at odds. He felt like we were running the ball too much and not throwing it to him enough, which all good receivers are like that. What we had to sell him on is our primary goal is to win in whatever method we can.”

Samples saw Moore’s potential and knew his time would come. As Duncanville developed a standout quarterback in SMU commit Keelon Russell, Moore was able to further shine. Until that happened, he grew his game in other ways.

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“It taught me everything outside of getting the ball,” Moore said. “Most wide receivers just want the ball almost every play. They don’t want to block. They don’t want to do nothing else besides run routes and get the ball. My freshman year, in order to start on varsity, I had to be able to block. It really just made me a stronger player mentally and physically.”

Now Moore’s recruitment, which earned him 34 offers before he committed to LSU on Aug. 12, is starting to match the stats he’s accumulating on the field.

He’s joining a long list of Duncanville stars to go on and play at top college programs, including Arkansas linebacker Jordan Crook, Ohio State defensive end Omari Abor and Utah running back Ja’Quinden Jackson. In fact, Duncanville has had more top-10 Dallas-area recruits in the last five years (seven) than any other program. Moore is its third No. 1 recruit since 2020.

When he returns for one last season at Duncanville, Moore is hoping to set a school record in receiving yards, win a third consecutive state title and earn MVP honors. He’s also seeking to break the high school national record on Duncanville track’s 4x100 relay team this spring.

Buf if Moore lives up to the NFL potential many have assigned to him, those accolades are just the beginning.

“Without a doubt,” Samples said of Moore’s chances to play professionally. “And it’s not just me. All the big-time receiver coaches who actually work with the guys that go to the next level say that he has the potential.”

Duncanville High School wide receiver and Dallas Morning News SportsDay's annual top-100 no....
Duncanville High School wide receiver and Dallas Morning News SportsDay's annual top-100 no. 1 recruit in the Class of 2025, Dakorien Moore poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at Duncanville High School. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)
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