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Flames looking for Moore CHICAGO NATIVE TAKES OVER FOR COLLINS August 25, 2010
The little boy that grew up in ABLA projects that were located across the street from the UIC campus is now the head men’s basketball coach for the Flames. UIC introduced Moore as the 10th head coach in school history on Monday. The 37-year-old Moore was emotional when he took the podium in the lobby of the UIC Pavilion. “This is indeed a very humbling, but very special, moment in my life,” Moore said. “I'm going through a very emotional moment right now because a lot of people believed in Howard Moore. It means a lot to me to come home.” The Chicago native replaces 14-year veteran Jimmy Collins, who is retiring at the end of the month. Moore comes from Wisconsin where he was an assistant coach under Bo Ryan for the last five seasons. He graduated from Taft High School on the Northwest side in 1990, played at Wisconsin (1990-95) and assisted at Taft, the University of Chicago, Bradley under Jim Molinari, Ball State under Tim Buckley and Loyola under Jim Whitesell. Now it’s Moore’s time to turn around a Flames’ program that went 8-22 overall and 3-15 in the Horizon League last season. When the UIC job opened up, Ryan gave Moore his full support. “I went to Coach Ryan, and the first thing he said was, ‘Howard, it’s a no-brainer. That’s home, that’s a great league, you know the league and you’ve got to go after it.’ ” He will receive a five-year deal, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune. “It was great decision,” said Collins, who attended the press conference and supported Moore. “He is a class guy who’s going to do some really special things here.” Moore was selected over Minnesota assistant Vince Taylor and Michigan State assistant Mark Montgomery, who reportedly were the other two finalists with the best chance to get the job.
“Howard has proven himself as an intelligent strategist and a highly respected recruiter. He brings integrity, class and a vision for winning championships.” Moore plans on bringing what was successful with the Badgers and implementing it with the Flames. “We’re going to use the Wisconsin model,” Moore said. “We don’t allow easy baskets. We don’t allow open threes. We’re going to be a hard-nosed, half-court man-to-man defense that’s going to be stingy.” The new coach added that he hopes to utilize the swing offense, which he learned under Ryan, and emphasizes team play. “We going look at how we can fit it in with personnel and see how it works. The biggest key is that we’re going take care of the basketball, get good shots and get something positive out of every possession. We’re going to be extremely good on the defensive end as a group.” Moore has big plans for the Flames program. “We're going to get this thing going again,” he said. “My goal as the head coach at UIC is to do two things first and foremost. We're going to get this thing back to the top of the league, we’re going to win championships, and we’re going to get young men to earn their degrees.” The Flames haven’t tasted postseason play since the 2003-04 season when Cedrick Banks, Martell Bailey and Armond Williams guided UIC to a 24-8 record and a Horizon League tournament championship — the last of three NCAA tournament appearances under Collins. “This program will be the class of the city of Chicago and of the state of Illinois,” Moore said. “We're going to take that seed that Jimmy Collins has planted and other people as well and we're going to grow it into something very special. “We’re not going to promise the world to kids. We’re not going to tell them that they’re going to get to the NBA. Our slogan is that we’re going to underpromise and overdeliver. We’re going to bring in kids that have character and be a part of something that is bigger than themselves.” After a meeting with Moore on Sunday, Flames players sounded eager to learn under the new regime. “Coach Moore can bring a lot to table,” said senior forward Paul Carter, who transferred in from Minnesota. “He has a commanding presence and he knows what he wants to do with his program. It makes me at ease, because I have a coach that knows what he wants and what I need to do.” “He told us, it was going to be a different year … a lot of positive stuff,” junior guard Zavion Neely said. “He’s going to put some stuff in that’s going to get us ready for the season. I’m really motivated by the things that he said to us. I’m buying into the system already.” Moore helped recruit several Chicago area players to Wisconsin over the past several years, and he is already making an impact as he has made an offer to 6-foot-5 guard Jerome Brown of Morgan Park, a top Class of 2011 recruit, according to various reports. There was no announcements about Moore’s coaching staff, but he did say he will sit down with Collins’ assistants Bryant Lowe and Mark Miller and give them “an opportunity to be heard.” The Tribune reported on its website that Hyde Park High School coach Donnie Kirksey, who was also an assistant at DePaul and Chicago State, will be accepting a spot on Moore’s staff. The Sun-Times reported that York High School assistant Al Biancalana, who worked with Moore at Bradley, was in attendance at the press conference and could be another candidate for an assistant’s job. Biancalana was the high school coach of former Flames center Joe Scott at Stagg High School. Moore had a message for supporters of the UIC program. “We're going to work our hardest; we'll be dedicated and disciplined,” he said. “We're going to do it the right way. … When we fire the Flames back up, it’s gonna get hot, baby.” ROSTER NEWS: The Flames have 18 players on the roster according to uicflames.com. As reported recently, center Louis Green has left the program after his freshman year and transferred to Moraine Valley. Now, point guard Kenny Stevenson from Seton Academy, who had signed a letter of intent last November, is also not listed. |
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