How Syracuse guard Elijah ‘Choppa’ Moore turned tattooed elbow into massive following - syracuse.com

Oct 22, 2024

Syracuse guard Elijah Moore poses on Orange men's basketball media day. Oct. 18, 2024Dennis Nett

Syracuse, N.Y. – It started with vacant real estate on his left elbow.

Elijah Moore, Syracuse’s freshman guard, had decided he wanted to tattoo only the arm and leg on the left side of his body. The elbow was available.

Moore wants all his tattoos to signify something specific, something personal.

So, he conceived of a bullseye, a target to be drawn on his left, non-shooting elbow. That way, whenever he made a 3-point shot, he could show the bullseye to recognize the feat.

For Moore, that seemed fitting. His reputation as a knockdown shooter was what lifted him in the Class of 2024 recruiting rankings.

The target tattoo is an ode to his shooting ability.

“I wanted it to be round so I could kind of flow with the rest of my tattoos. I was kind of just thinking what I could put and I was like, ‘What if I get a target, what if I get a bullseye?’ ” he said.

“And then I got it and it was one of those things where I wasn’t really sure about how it would go. But I just kind of embraced it and let it be a part of me. And actually, it ended up being a good thing.”

Moore said he decided on the tattoo about a year ago, after talking with his OTE Jelly Fam teammate and fellow Bronx native Ian Jackson, who will play at North Carolina this season. Moore said the two were working out one day when the idea surfaced.

“Sure enough I did it,” he said, “and it just kind of took off from there.”

A post shared by Choppa Moore (@choppafam1)

It took off to the tune of 142,000 Instagram and 145,600 TikTok followers. No Syracuse teammate comes close to that kind of social media reach.

Moore said last summer spent touring with another OTE team, Rod Wave Elite, allowed him to have fun, travel and “grow my brand with the elbow.”

He came to Syracuse as a four-star prospect who had narrowed his college choice to Arkansas, Miami, Alabama, Oklahoma State and SU. Orange coach Adrian Autry said during last Friday’s Syracuse media day that Moore has improved since stepping onto campus last summer.

“We know he can shoot. The biggest improvement has been on the defensive end. And he still has a ways to go but that’s typical for freshmen,” Autry said. “What I love about Elijah as well is he’s a tough young man and he tries and he wants to be good. He’s gotten better.

“We’ve put him with the ball in his hands to work on his decision-making, to work on his ball-handling and he’s done a really good job with that. He’s a guy that’s here every day in the gym all the time, always trying to improve. Mostly our whole team is like that.”

Moore has already made an impact. He co-hosts a podcast called "dabigggestchoppup" with teammate Eddie Lampkin. (Moore’ s nickname is “Choppa.”)

He said he hopes to turn his social media followers into Syracuse basketball fans. He hopes fans will mimic his elbow action as a celebratory staple in the JMA Wireless Dome.

“I feel like it’ll be great,” he said, “just seeing my teammates, my coaches, the crowd be a part of it and just have my back with it will be an amazing feeling.”

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