Wes Moore leads by example on and off court

Over the past 11 years, Lady Mocs basketball fans have become accustomed to a tradition of winning seasons and exciting basketball. The on court product has made players like Alex Anderson, Shanara Hollinquest and Katasha Brown household names in Chattanooga.

Behind all the success, however, is one man, a man known for his modesty, honest values and determination.

He is Head Coach Wes Moore.

Though he considered other possibilities, it didn't take Moore long to realize that coaching basketball as a career was the right fit.

"At one time I thought about youth ministry or something like that," Moore said. "To me, working with young people as well as being around athletics still, seemed like the perfect fit for me."

His first job as a head coach came at Division III Maryville, where he lost only 36 games in six seasons, was three times named district coach of the year and went to the Division III Sweet 16.

After two seasons as an assistant at North Carolina State, Moore was named head coach at Division II Francis Marion.

Moore turned a losing program around, and in his third season, he took the school to the Final Four of the Division II NCAA Tournament.

That success led to his being named coach at UTC on April 30, 1998.

The 2003-04 seasons saw Moore take UTC to unprecedented heights.

The team won 27 straight games, the longest winning streak in the nation at the time and a school record that, despite other lengthy streaks, still stands. Playing at the McKenzie Arena, the team went on to upset seventh-seeded Rutgers 74-69 in the NCAA tournament.

Katie Galloway played under Moore from 2000-04 and was on that team. She traces that success back to the work that Moore put into his players.

"None of our success would have been possible if it weren't for Coach Moore's hard work and dedication," Galloway said. "He would spend countless hours breaking down game film so that he could teach us everything we need to know in order to beat our opponents. His team's success was so important to him that he did whatever it took to help us win."

For a man who boasts a career winning percentage of .778, one may think his desire to win makes up a large part of Moore, but Kayla Christopher, a freshman from Oliver Springs, Tenn., sees something different.

"Coach Moore is not just a great coach, but he's a great person," Christopher said.

"I know sometimes on the court he gets mad and shows his anger towards us, but off the court, I know that he would do anything he could to help any of us."

Moore refuses to give himself significant credit for his success. "It starts with recruiting good players, who are also good people," Moore said. "My first year here at Chattanooga we only won ten games, and my second year we won twenty-six."

"It wasn't like I got a whole lot smarter in one year. We were able to go out and recruit some outstanding young ladies," Galloway, now a high-school girls basketball coach, admits that she was influenced by Moore's style, and the same things that she took away from her time at UTC are the same things that keep Moore as a campus fixture.

"The one thing I took away from my experience is to, above all else, build a strong, positive relationship with my players," she said. "Coach Moore hates to lose ball games, but he cared about us, first and foremost! I strongly believe that is the reason for his success at UTC."

Moore and the Lady Mocs are coming off their 11th straight conference title in 2009-2010.