UW's Howard Moore revels in his good fortune
NEW YORK - Howard Moore doesn’t claim to be the most interesting man in the Big Ten.
Yet, Moore, in his second stint as a Wisconsin assistant, insists he is the luckiest man in the league.
“It almost overwhelms me,” Moore said as UW prepared to face Florida in the NCAA East Regional semifinals Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Moore was referring to the rise of the program he has witnessed, both as a player in the 1990s and then as an assistant.
Moore was a freshman in the fall of 1990, just months after the men’s hockey program won another national title.
“Hockey was king on campus, which was great,” said Moore, who redshirted as a freshman and played four seasons.
Chancellor Donna Shalala had hired Pat Richter as athletic director. Richter, in turn, hired Barry Alvarez to revive the football program.
“So my first year was Barry’s first year,” Moore said. “I see that transformation with my own eyes. His first recruiting class, the catalyst for the Rose Bowl run — they were all my friends.
“So we’re all sitting in the dorms and in the cafeteria dreaming about Rose Bowls and NCAA runs. This is the conversation we were all having as freshmen. And everyone else would all laugh at the notion.”
Players from both teams were peeved at the lack of faith.
The football team broke through in 1993 by winning a share of the Big Ten title before defeating UCLA in the Rose Bowl. A few months later, the basketball team qualified for the 1994 NCAA Tournament, ending a drought of more than four decades that began in 1948.
Moore recalls the ninth-seeded Badgers knocking off No. 8 Cincinnati before losing to No. 1 Missouri in the second round of the West Regional.
“The ’94 tournament solidified it,” Moore said. “Winning can be done here.
“I remember sitting in the meetings when the (idea) of the Kohl Center was first mentioned, after that ’94 run.”
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Moore was a senior in ’95 when Michael Finley became the No. 1 scorer in program history.
He was an assistant when Alando Tucker broke Finley’s mark in 2007.
“Bertha Finley was on the floor to congratulate him,” Moore said of Tucker’s mother. “I feel fortunate because I was there for a lot of the significant moments in Wisconsin basketball history, and I have relationships with some of the key people who helped make this thing go.
“I feel lucky.”
Moore felt lucky again last winter when Bo Ryan abruptly retired after UW’s 12th game of the season.
Greg Gard took over as interim head coach, meaning UW needed another assistant.
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Moore, who was working for the Big Ten Network, was on the set that night discussing Ryan's move and the state of the UW program.
"We were wrapping up the show," Moore said, "And Jess Settles turns to me and says: 'You know this is your last show, right?' "
Translation: Gard would be calling to offer Moore a job as an assistant.
"That was the last thing I was thinking about," Moore said. "Then reality set in. What if he calls me? What do you do?
"Well, my wife said: 'You know what you’re going to do.' "
Gard called the next afternoon, after meeting with local reporters. Moore, who was busy responding to interview requests in the wake of Ryan’s retirement, missed the call.
“He was probably thinking: ‘Howard is avoiding me,’ ” Moore joked.
Gard called again that night; Moore took the call and was heading back to UW. He has seen UW reach the Sweet 16 in each of the last two seasons, pushing the program’s streak to four in a row to tie the Big Ten mark.
“I feel like I am the luckiest person in this program,” Moore said. “And I wouldn’t trade that for any stat or any accolade.”