Baggot: Moseley’s energy and drive ‘great match’ for Wisconsin
March 29, 2021 | Women's Basketball, Andy Baggot
New women’s basketball coach sees opportunity and support in Badgers
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
MADISON, Wis. — If it's your passion to be a college coach, there probably isn't a better place to grow old and prosper than at your alma mater.
You have intimate knowledge of the culture, people and history. You know how things work. Your care quotient will never be higher than at the school that honed your academic and competitive soul.
So what does it say that Marisa Moseley decided to leave her alma mater in mid-ascent to become the women's basketball coach at Wisconsin?
Moseley graduated from Boston University in 2004, then spent the better part of two decades creating an impressive legacy as an assistant coach at Denver, Minnesota and Connecticut before returning to the Terriers in 2018 as the first alum to serve as head coach of the program.
Moseley proceeded to become an award-winning revivalist at BU, being named Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2019, coaxing a runner-up finish out of her club in 2020 and guiding the Terriers to the conference tournament title game during a pandemic-shortened season in 2021.
Yet not only did Moseley leave the school she loved, the 39-year-old former one-time production assistant at ESPN grew up 90 miles from the BU campus in Springfield, Massachusetts. In short, she unearthed a lot of root systems to become coach of the Badgers.
"I wasn't in any way looking to leave BU," she said. "It had been my home twice for me and I think that speaks volumes about a place when you want to come back to it."
But Moseley got a phone call out of the blue from Chris McIntosh, the UW deputy athletic director, asking if she would interview for the job of overseeing a Big Ten Conference program that has confounded so many of her predecessors.
The Badgers haven't finished with a winning record, overall or in Big Ten play, since 2011. The last time they qualified for the NCAA tournament was in 2010. The last time they won a national tournament game was in 1996.
The more Moseley listened, the more she became intrigued. She'd been to Madison and the Kohl Center as a Minnesota assistant from 2007 to '09, but, for obvious reasons, didn't spend a lot of time sightseeing. After speaking with McIntosh she concluded that the Wisconsin vacancy merited a long look based on an interesting vibe.
"You always have in the back of your head that it would be awesome to play for the ultimate goal, the national championship, as a coach," she said. "In my mind, if I was going to leave Boston – a place so near and dear to my heart – it's got to be a place that I would go to where we could ultimately compete for a national championship.
"All the pieces started to come together like, 'You know what? I think this is a place that can do that.'"
Moseley was aware of Wisconsin's celebrated academic reputation, but had never seen the city, campus or the Kohl Center up close. She said Madison "has a really special feeling."
During the interview process Moseley became acquainted with the smart-tough-dependable culture within the athletic department, one fostered by Barry Alvarez, the director of athletics.
"I'm a huge person on culture," she said. "The fact that it's not just one team's culture but an entire department that has that culture and mindset and community, that really spoke to me."
The future is bright with @marisamoseley leading the #Badgers.
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerWBB) March 28, 2021
More: https://t.co/xDPwIEjYxS pic.twitter.com/kasKPkuhnh
Moseley also heard about the school's commitment to equity and diversity from associate AD Mike Jackson, an important factor given Moseley was a point person for social justice initiatives at Minnesota, UConn and BU – she founded the Patriot League Anti-Racism Commission – and she would be the only Black head coach at Wisconsin.
"The strategic plan made me feel confident that I would be supported here in that regard," she said.
Moseley's intuition was fortified by Geno Auriemma, the Hall of Fame coach at UConn who had her on his staff for nine extraordinary years and who has become both her mentor and friend. The Huskies won five NCAA titles and advanced to the Final Four every season that Moseley worked for Auriemma.
"The minute the Wisconsin job opened up I thought of her," he said. "I thought she'd be lucky to get the Wisconsin job and Wisconsin would be very fortunate to have her."
Auriemma, a Naismith Hall of Fame inductee with 1,000-plus career wins and a record 11 NCAA championships on his resume, told Moseley that the opportunity in Madison checked all the boxes as far as he was concerned.
"It's a great match," he said.
Moseley graduated from BU with a degree in sociology after helping the Terriers secure their only NCAA tournament berth. A 6-foot-2 forward, she was a two-time captain who finished third on the all-time career list with 114 blocked shots.
Moseley's tenure as BU coach was brief, but its progress was unmistakable. The Terriers were 45-29 (.608) on her watch after going 26-63 (.292) the three seasons prior to her arrival.
"She has made an incredible impact not only on the program, but also my life," BU senior guard and captain Katie Nelson told the school's website, "and I am so excited to see what this next opportunity has in store for her."
Everyone has at least one inner gift that defines them. What is Moseley's?
"Her dynamic personality, that ability to communicate with anyone she comes in contact with," Auriemma said. "It doesn't matter if it's adults, kids at camp, student-athletes. Everyone that comes in contact with her is always impressed by how she's always upbeat and in great spirits. Her ability to engage is her biggest strength. A coach has to have that in abundance.
"She's positive. She knows what she's talking about. She has a great knowledge, a great understanding of the game. She has a great understanding of people and what each person needs individually to be successful. That, to me, is what all great coaches have."
The Badgers have never won a Big Ten women's basketball title in their history, which goes back to 1974. They have won 20 or more games just eight times in that span. Asked about that history, Moseley offered a diplomatic reply.
"I don't know that it would be fair to look back and say, 'Hey, we could have, should have done this,'" she said. "For me, it's what are we going to do moving forward to make Wisconsin the best program possible, make it as attractive as possible to keep homegrown talent in-state, and to really create an atmosphere of excitement with our fans, alumni and community?
"I love challenges and this will be one. But I think it will be a great challenge."
"She's a winner." – Barry Alvarez#Badgers welcome Marisa Moseley as new @BadgerWBB coach.
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) March 26, 2021
Meet Coach Moseley – https://t.co/hnjpnHAWV7 pic.twitter.com/kBsXXHzyEj
Auriemma, whose club has reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament every full season since 2006, also declined to evaluate the past where UW women's basketball is concerned. He said having an elite men's basketball program is almost always a help and that's the case at Wisconsin. He said having other accomplished women's programs like hockey, softball and volleyball is evidence that basketball can have consistent success as well.
"They have everything," he said of the Badgers. "When you have everything, it comes down to you have to get the right people."
Moseley got her basketball instincts from her father, James, who came to the U.S. from Guyana in South America and wound up playing at UMass in the early 1970s. He shared the same backcourt as future Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino and the same roster with Mike Flanagan, a future American League Cy Young Award winner with Baltimore.
James recalls a stroller-bound Marisa sitting courtside with her mother, Linda, and older sister, Nicole, watching as he played in an over-the-hill league at the Springfield YMCA.
Linda remembers a time when Marisa wanted little to do with basketball. Soccer was her first passion.
"When she first tried basketball in fourth or fifth grade, she said, 'This is a stupid game. You just start to run and then they blow the whistle and you have to stop,'" her mother recounted. "Of course, now she makes a living at this stupid game. We still tease her about that."
Both parents, now divorced, were excited to hear about Marisa's latest calling.
"I instilled in both my daughters that the goal is to go out and live a life that's best for you," James said.
"I've been reading up on y'all, both on your history (of women's basketball) and knowing what you need," Linda said. "I believe that Mr. Alvarez and the others were really wise in choosing. Not because she's my child. It's because she's going to bring that spark and energy that's so badly needed. She has this unique combination of skills and personality that is really engaging and I think people are going to buy into that.
"To go to the Big Ten is a big deal. Cutting her teeth at her alma mater was a really good move."
Linda, now remarried as Linda Randall and living in Georgia, said she took stock of all the posts on the Facebook account operated by UW Athletics since her daughter was hired.
"I think there's some hope there that hasn't been," she said. "I think we're all in on a great adventure."
Marisa said getting to know members of her new family of players, reaching out to the incoming freshmen and recruiting future prospects are the items atop her to-do list. At one point in mid-interview, Moseley answered a question while simultaneously texting a prospect she'd like to land for 2022. It was an impressive display of multi-tasking.
Moseley used words like "selfless," "intelligent," "trust" and "excellence" to describe her ideal team culture. She said she wants her student-athletes to be servant leaders.
"We owe so much to the people that have come before us," she said.
As for a style of play, Moseley said she wants five players on the floor who are versatile, can play up-tempo and execute in the half-court.
Moseley tutored post players, helped recruit some of the best players in the nation to UConn and was involved with player development for the Huskies. She was a member of the school's diversity council as well as AD David Benedict's leadership team. Auriemma was asked where he saw her greatest growth during her time in Storrs, Conn.
"Perspective," he said. "This is really a hard job. It takes a long time to build something and to cultivate it. She grew up a lot during those years with us."
Is Wisconsin poised for a turnaround?
"Sometimes it's just timing and the right person in the job and getting a couple key recruits," Auriemma said.
"At the end of the day, maybe UConn is different because we've won 11 national championships, but even now players want to play for people. They don't play for buildings and gyms and facilities and dorms and apartments. That's not why they go to school. They go to school to play for people.
"I think Marisa's the kind of person that can attract the kind of players that can put Wisconsin at that level atop the league."
