With the 2020 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From some game-winning FTs in the 1955 tourney (65th anniversary) through a 17-PT comeback win in the 2015 1st 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Hall of Famer Billie Moore, the 1st coach in women’s basketball history to lead 2 different schools to national championships. She won the 1970 CIAW national title in in her 1st year at Cal State-Fullerton and won the 1978 AIAW national title in her 1st year as coach at UCLA. She made the Final Four 5 times during the 1970s and was the head coach of the original team USA women at the 1976 Olympics. She was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Moore about the 50th anniversary of winning the 1970 title and the 45th anniversary of making the 1975 Final 4.
Your father coached boys and girls basketball in Kansas: how much of an influence was he on your own decision to become a coach? He was the 1 who got me into sports and I loved competing. When I went to college there was not even an opportunity to become a coach so I went back and got my Masters degree. Coach Charlotte West also helped me: if not for her then I would have never made it to the university level.
You were known for being a strict disciplinarian who held physically demanding practices: what made them so effective, and how did your players like practice? We had a culture of discipline/execution. I always had the philosophy that if you worked hard to develop your skills during practice then it would be fun when you actually played the game. I might change the way that I communicated if I was still a coach but I would not change my style.
In the 1970 CIAW title game in your very 1st year as coach at Cal State Fullerton you had a 4-PT win over West Chester: what did it mean to you to win a title? It was just so new: they were making the switch to 5-on-5 so being around my dad coaching the boys made it easier for me. I focused so much more on the process every day in practice and assumed that the games would take care of themselves. Very rarely do you get to say that you were the best but those young ladies got to say it at that moment. There is always a special bond when you have that kind of success.
In the 1975 Final 4 you had a 9-PT loss to Immaculata: what was it like to face the 3-time defending champs and what made them such a great program? When you get to a certain level it comes down to who can consistently do things. A possession in the 1st minute of the game might not seem that important at the time but you have to raise the bar. To be a part of a game like that is the opportunity you strive for in practice every day.
In 8 years at Fullerton you lost a total of 15 games: how were you able to remain so dominant over such a long period of time? We had the right players who bought into the system. Xs and Os are easy if you have the right Xs to put in there! Talent alone does not win: you need to give some structure/guidance. No matter how technically sound you are you will not have success without at least some level of talent. I think that some of my main strengths was teaching the game and motivating my players. 1 of the things I learned from Coach John Wooden is that technical knowledge does not separate you out in the hierarchy of coaching.
Take me through the 1976 Olympics as the 1st-ever women’s head coach of team USA:
1 of your co-captains was Pat Summitt, who later said, “Billie Moore has had more influence on my coaching career than anyone”: what was she like as a player, and could you have imagined at the time that she would become 1 of the greatest coaches ever? There are 2 factors here. 1 of the things that we accomplished was qualifying by competing with 20+ other countries to claim 1 of the 2 spots. The hierarchy of USA Basketball did not expect us to reach the Olympics so we definitely overachieved, and that starts with a captain like Pat. I recommended Pat to become a coach for the junior team because she had a gift. Everyone has the will to win but what separated her out was her preparation: there was nothing she would not do to give her team a chance to be successful. She had similar intensity as a player and was a great leader.
You ended up winning a silver medal: what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward, and how unstoppable was 7’2′ Soviet center Juliana Semenova? She was a foot taller than all of our players. I told them that what they achieved was beyond what anyone had ever imagined. I told them to take great pride in being the 1st US Olympic women’s basketball team. I remember that Bill Russell was 1 of the announcers for the game: he said the only thing I did wrong was not sending in our 10th or 11th best player to try and take Semenova out of the game! 40 years later there is even a stronger sense of what we accomplished, as the current team USA is expected to win the gold medal every 4 years. They never backed away.
In the 1978 AIAW title game in very 1st year as head coach at UCLA, 4-time All-American Ann Meyers had 20 PTS/10 REB/9 AST/8 STL in a win over Maryland: how much of a home-court advantage did you have while playing at Pauley Pavilion in front of more than 9000 fans (which at the time was the largest crowd ever to see a women’s championship game) and where does Ann’s performance rank among the greatest that you have ever seen? It is a double-edged sword: it is wonderful to play on your home floor but it also gives you a lot of pressure to win it all. Once we reached the final I felt good about our chances because we had a very easy team to coach. Ann is 1 of the best all-around players that I have ever seen and was willing to do whatever it took to win. You do not appreciate what those players bring to the team until they are gone: she made everyone around her better, which is the best compliment you can give a player. I coached them as just players, not female players: it worked well for me because most of them had learned the game from their brothers. There were not a lot of AAU leagues or organized games for women back then. If you watch a high-level women’s game now the only thing they cannot do is dunk consistently.
You are the only coach in women’s basketball history to win titles at 2 different schools: what made you leave Fullerton, and do you think that we will ever see someone else do this? I think someone else will do it in the future. With the advent of Title IX I figured it was just a matter of time until the big-time conferences would start dominating women’s basketball. It took a while for Title IX to have an impact. Before that it was small schools like Immaculate/Delta State but now it is only power-conference teams.
After retiring from coaching in 1993 you became a consultant/instructor for a variety of teams/camps: how have you enjoyed retirement, and what do you hope to do in the future? I spent about 27 years around the Tennessee program and went to all of their NCAA tourney appearances, and then helped Pat’s son Tyler when he became a coach. Only recently have I really been a spectator, and that is okay.
In 1999 you were inducted into a pair of Halls of Fame: where did that rank among the highlights of your career? To be a part of the Women’s Hall of Fame charter class was nice: it is always great to be the 1st to do something. It ranks way up there with winning a championship and being in the Olympics. I feel very blessed but the reason I got there was my players/assistants: I never scored a point or made an assist.