Wisconsin’s Why? Do Moore. Be Moore. 4 Moore.
October 30, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
Do Moore. Be Moore. 4 Moore. It’s more than a slogan for the Badgers.
 |
||
|
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — When junior guard Brad Davison heard that the players were going to pay a home visit to Howard Moore — the first face-to-face meeting with their beloved assistant coach since a horrific car accident in the early morning hours of May 25 had claimed Moore's wife Jennifer and 9-year-old daughter Jaidyn — Davison couldn't contain his excitement.
"I just wanted to give him a hug," he said.
This was right after Father's Day in June; right after the team had regrouped on campus for summer workouts; right after head coach Greg Gard had held a heart-to-heart session with everyone about the Moore family tragedy, which had shook the program to its core on Memorial Day weekend. Moore and his 13-year-old son Jerell were the only survivors of the crash.
"First of all, I was really excited to see Coach Moore because you heard everything about the accident and for the whole time, I just wanted to talk to him and hear his perspective," Davison related. "That being said, there was a little uncertainty going into it because you just didn't know what to say."
Senior Brevin Pritzl, who drove a handful of his teammates to Moore's home in Middleton, remembered dealing with some understandable anxiety and thinking, "We've got to be ready for anything — it was such a traumatic experience — you've got to be mentally in the right frame of mind because you're going to have to cope with that."
One of the passengers in Pritzl's car was junior point guard D'Mitrik Trice, who recalled, "The ride over there was a little nerve-racking. It was very silent, very quiet. The coaches tried to explain to us that we just needed to be ourselves because, 'Coach Moore is like he has always been.'"
Gard had tried to prepare them for the home visit from that standpoint, but he acknowledged, "I think they were uneasy and nervous about what they were going to see and what they were going to hear from Coach Moore and how he was going to be different."
Moore was waiting at the door when the players arrived, and he gave them each a hug. After some lighthearted banter about a movie he had been watching (Russell Crowe starring as "Noah" in a depiction of Noah's Ark), Moore eventually addressed the elephant in the room.
"We didn't say a whole lot … Coach Moore did most of the talking … exactly the way it should have been," Davison said. "He told us the story of the accident and he didn't leave out any details. The bravery and courage and trust and genuineness of his story was incredible. It left us all speechless."
Throughout the visit, Moore went out of his way to put everyone at ease.
"It's really powerful to see a man who went through such a traumatic experience," Pritzl said, "and he cares so much for us that he was trying to look out for us as soon as we got there. He was trying to make sure that we understood that he was going to be OK.
"It was really unique. I don't think any of us were truly prepared for him to be in that state of mind. But when he was, it kind of empowers you more because you know he's in a good frame of mind and you can continue to hope for his progression. Howard was in his cheery Coach Moore mood."
Moore's upbeat demeanor was definitely an icebreaker for the relieved players. "He was so positive, so uplifting, so energetic," Trice said. "He was like he has always been. He was making jokes and laughing. It was a blessing to see, honestly, and an eye-opening experience."
It didn't take long, Davison observed, for Moore to put on his game face.
Moore even talked about rejoining the team in September.
"Somehow," Davison said, "you knew that he was going to get it all back to basketball."
Morphing into teacher/coach mode, Moore exhorted individual players to work on their games.
"He took me off to the side, just me and him, and he told me what he expects to see out of me," Trice said. "He talked about leadership and how the ball was going to be in my hands a lot this year."
No one was spared.
"He literally told every single one of us something that we had to do better for the upcoming year," said Pritzl, who was encouraged to "shoot more and don't be hesitant."
Wisconsin's only tendered freshman Tyler Wahl was in the room and Pritzl said, "I remember Coach Moore saying to Tyler, 'I don't know you yet, but I'm going to get to know you well."
Davison pointed out that his relationship with Moore has always revolved around their strong faith. "We didn't talk about basketball a whole lot," he said. "We had much more intentional and deeper conversations and that was the advice that he had for me."
Davison was encouraged to "hold myself to a higher standard."
In the process of baring his soul to the players, and critiquing them, Moore spoke to the family theme that has characterized Badger basketball over the years and challenged them to get the most out of each day, to live their lives to the fullest, to take nothing for granted.
"He talked about things that he had learned from this," Davison vividly remembered. "He wanted to try and be a better father to Jerell. He wanted to try and be a better friend and role model. And then he said, 'That's the challenge I have for you guys, too, and that's to learn from this.'"
Davison's interpretation?
"Be a better teammate. Work a little harder. Do a little more. Be a little more."
Those words resonated with everyone in the room.
"Coach Moore told us that his challenge for us was to be better in every aspect of life," Davison went on. "Whether that's in the weight room or on the court or in the classroom or in the community or just in our individual lifestyles, he just wanted us to be more."
While Gard knew the players had reservations about seeing Moore for the first time, he was reassured, "When they realized this is the same Coach Moore who had an unbelievable message for them, 'You can use this experience to help better yourself and people in your lives.'"
In late June, the 49-year-old Moore was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. He's now recovering in a long-term care and rehabilitation facility. He will not coach during the 2019-20 season.
That setback combined with what the players gleaned from their home visit — seeing for themselves how Moore was handling his fate while inspiring them to create their own destiny — was the genesis for how the Badger basketball program will honor the Moore family.
Do Moore. Be Moore. 4 Moore.
(The 4 representing Jennifer, Jaidyn, Jerell and Howard Moore.)
"After the heart attack, knowing that Howard wasn't going to be coaching with us this year, we kind of took his message from that night and arrived at this," Gard said of the word play. "It encapsulates what his message was and what he wanted this group to take from his experience."
Do Moore. Be Moore. 4 Moore.
The game uniforms will feature a "4MOORE" patch with the names of Jen and Jaidyn. The full saying will also be on the back of the shooting t-shirts that the players wear during warmups. And they will be on wristbands the players will wear when they're not on the court. The coaches will also wear pins bearing that message.
"Part of Coach Moore's message to the team at his home was, 'Don't compromise any day. Don't take anything for granted,'" Gard said. "That's sometimes thrown around a lot, even cliché in nature at times. But this was a real-life experience that really put a light on that meaning."
Do Moore. Be Moore.
"It really embodies what Coach Moore was always about," Pritzl said. "Do Moore? How can you help other people? Be Moore? You have to stand for more. What you stand for has to mean something. He is always trying to help us grow as men and basketball players."
4 Moore.
"You have to think about all the things that Jen and Jaidyn were to us," said Pritzl. "It's the same thing when a family member passes away. Your memories of them are always going to be there. In times of sadness, you're going to draw on them and you're going to remember the good times."
Pritzl added the uniform patch will be a good reminder. "If you're struggling or having a bad moment," he said, "you can look down at it or glance at your teammate and see it, and there's going to be something you can remember about the Moores and always keep in the back of your mind."
Trice believes the Moore tribute — the words, in particular — will be a "symbol of strength" for this team as it prepares for the upcoming season, beginning with Friday night's exhibition game against UW-La Crosse at the Kohl Center.
"Obviously you're representing more than just yourself," Trice said of the meaning behind the words. "It will bring us back to the moment. It will bring us into the now and why we're playing the game and why we're dedicating the season to Coach Moore and what he has been through."
Davison has a good idea what it's going to be like when he puts on his game jersey.
"I think I will get emotional the first time that I put it on and probably every time after that," he said. "A lot of people talk about our team and if we have an external chip on our shoulder because of where we are preseason ranked in the Big Ten (second division) and because of this and that and that …
"For us, personally, external chips are so small when you can play for an internal purpose. The patch or the wrist bands or the t-shirts will be a reminder of why we do what we do, why we play the game of basketball, why it's such a privilege and opportunity to represent a university like Wisconsin.
"Coach Moore wore that same jersey," Davison was now saying in reference to Moore being a former basketball letterwinner and UW graduate. "And it's an internal chip or internal drive that far outweighs any external chip that anybody could put on us."
Since the start of preseason drills, Davison confided, "There are certain moments in practice where you feel his presence (Moore's) is missing more than others because there were certain things he always did, and it was kind of his role in practice."
When the players were shooting free throws at the end of practice at both ends of the floor, Moore would stand under one basket and count them out, "One here, two here, three here …"
"The first time I shot and made it," Davison said, "Trevor (Anderson) and I looked at each other, and we said it, 'One here.' And then everyone would say it, 'Two here, three here, four here.'"
Every once in a while, Pritzl will think of one of Moore's corny, but favorite sayings. "He'd come up to you and say, 'What's the dill, pickle?'" he said. "He'd say it and make you giggle every time.'
Trice has been on that wavelength, too.
"That has been something that Coach Moore has said since my freshman year," Trice noted. "He'd say it all the time … when we were in the meeting room … before a game.
"It goes back to Coach Moore being Coach Moore."
And that is who they found waiting for them on his doorstep in mid-June.
Since then, the UW players and coaches have made sure to reach out to Jerell Moore.
"He's been at practice three or four times," Gard said. "He's obviously welcome to come at any time though I know he's busy with school and other things he has going. It's always good to see him."
Speaking for a number of his teammates, Trice said, "Jerell snapchats us all the time. He does a good job of keeping us in the loop. It's always good to catch up with him."
Jerell will often show up in the company of Amir Tucker, the son of Alando Tucker, the school's all-time leading scorer and the interim assistant in Moore's absence.
"When Jerell comes around, we mess with him a little bit and have some fun," Pritzl said. "Jerell is still a kid and it's on us to be there for him like big brothers when he needs us."
Davison has been grateful for the interaction with Jerell, who was in the habit of attending some practices with his dad and games with his mom and younger sister.
"First and foremost, the coaches have done a really good job of keeping him around just because this is kind of a safe space for him and he can interact with us," Davison said. "We love having him. I was snapchatting with him the other day. Just checking in and seeing how he's doing.
"It's something that we're all a lot more mindful of this year."
Do Moore. Be Moore. 4 Moore.
It's more than just a slogan or saying or play on words.
It's more of a lifestyle and path forward for this team.
"It's the way that coach Moore lived every day and the joy that he lived his life with that radiated off him in practice and in the locker room," Davison said. "It makes you give a little extra …"
A little Moore.
