CARTER-FINLEY STADIUM/RALEIGH N.C. State held its press conference to introduce Wes Moore as its new head women’s basketball coach on Monday.
Moore, 55, is the first male head women’s basketball coach at an ACC school in the Triangle. He had spent the previous nine seasons at Tennessee-Chattanooga where he had the Mocs in the NCAA Tournament in nine of his 15 seasons.
He was an assistant coach at State under the late Kay Yow, for whom the Reynolds Coliseum court is named, from 1993-95.
Moore has 558 career wins (with 169 losses) including 29 this season. The former Francis Marion (Division II) and Maryville (Division III) coach is the only one to lead women’s basketball teams to NCAA Tournament berths at all three levels.
He is replacing Kellie Harper (70-64 at State), who was fired after four years at the helm following a 17-17 season. In a coincidence, Harper was a Moore assistant at Chattanooga before becoming head coach at Western Carolina in 2004.
They said it …
- Photo courtesy UTC athletics
- N.C. State coach Wes Moore
Moore: “There’s challenges in any coaching situation, because you’re trying to get a group of people to do what they need to do so they can accomplish what they want to accomplish whether that is on the court or academically. … How I got into coaching women — when I graduated from college my choices were coach a boys’ high school team and teach biology six times a day, or go to Maryville College and coach a women’s team that was 1-25 the year before but that would not require any teaching. I would have been studying more than the (high school) kids. And as far as a guy coaching women, I think the National Championship Game (with Louisville’s Jeff Walz taking on Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma) is tomorrow night.”
Athletics director Debbie Yow: “It was a combination of six factors that made Coach Moore such a compelling choice for our committee: (1) his longstanding record of competitive excellence; (2) The track record of academic success of his teams; (3) his commitment to hire a diverse staff; (4) his history of building programs the right way within the NCAA rules; (5) his passion for coaching and recruiting — yes, he still has his passion for recruiting; and (6) his unwavering belief that we can regain our position as a perennial NCAA Tournament team over time.”
Post player Kody Burke: “The biggest challenge is a fear of the unknown. We met with him yesterday and he told us what we should expect from him and what he expects from us. We kind of got our feet wet, so now I feel completely comfortable. I’m totally supportive of his vision and feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”
Guard Myisha Goodwin-Coleman: “It’s a big challenge obviously, but a new beginning We have a fresh start. He’s getting used to us and we’re getting used to him. I think everyone’s anxious. We’ll get used to his coaching style, but I trust him.”
