Going for Moore — Top Aggie Now Administrator

By Kevin Nielsen

Published: Wednesday, January 26, 2005, in the Utah Statesman

 

Jimmy Moore has led an eventful life, living a dream that he didn't even have.

 

"A lot of people dream of playing in the NBA but I didn't," Moore said. "My dream was to come and get my education and then be a teacher and a coach."

 

The NBA was in a class by itself, Moore said. After playing for Utah State from 1973-75, he was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics and played for two years. After those two years he left to play in Europe.

 

Moore jumped around to different teams and leagues in the 12 years he spent overseas playing basketball.

 

"Going to Europe was like a second college education," Moore said.

 

His favorite place to play competitively was Italy, but for the social aspect of it he said he enjoyed the Netherlands. The people there were extremely friendly he said.

 

Moore said he wasn't surprised by the foreign success in basketball at the Olympics. Even when he was in Europe he said he could see that the Europeans taught and retaught fundamentals. Even with the success of foreign born players in the NBA there are still a lot better players in Europe, Moore said.

 

Moore said he has returned a couple times to Europe and still has a lot of good friends there. He added that they come and visit him every once and a while.

 

As for him visiting Europe, Moore said he's waiting for his sons to grow up a little so they can appreciate Europe, but is hopeful he'll make a trip in the next couple years.

 

Moore has been married since 1990 and has two sons - 11 and 9 years old. Moore coaches their super league basketball teams, which he said he enjoys.

 

After Moore's playing days in Europe he returned to Utah State as an assistant basketball coach under Rod Tueller and later Kohn Smith. Moore said he has to give a lot of credit to Tueller for giving him the opportunity to return to his alma mater to coach.

 

"Of all the players that played college ball most don't get to return and coach at their alma mater," he said.

 

Moore was offered a coaching job at Cal State Fullerton in 1992 but at the same time he was offered a job in the Admissions department at Utah State. He decided to stick around Logan.

 

Now Moore is the director of admissions, which covers both admissions and scholarships.

 

"I love being able to sell Utah State," Moore said.

 

The admissions department is in charge of doing all the paperwork for the applicants to attend Utah State, Moore said. In addition the department gives tours and sponsors Preview and Scholar Day for potential students.

 

January is the busy time for Moore, when high school students are sending in their college applications and Moore and his staff are trying to keep up.

 

When Moore played for Utah State there were around 9,500 students, he said. Now there are twice as many students and many new buildings, but, he said, it hasn't lost its personal touch.

 

"I can't believe how friendly the students and professors are," Moore said.

 

When Moore talks with parents and prospective students after tours, he said a lot of people comment on how nice and personable the people on campus are.

 

Moore said he thinks the friendliness comes from being a true residential campus. The students and faculty get to know each other and interact with one another so there is a definite relationship.

 

In his memories of his playing days, there is only one "dark moment" Moore said. When the Aggies made it to the NCAA Tournament in 1975 Moore had severely sprained his ankle the week before.

 

"It was kind of frustrating," Moore said. "I shouldn't have played, but it was my last college game."

 

Moore remembers many other things much more fondly. When Moore suited up, the Aggies were an independent school, so they traveled all over the nation. Stanford, Oral Roberts, and Wyoming were a few examples he gave of places they went. His career high of 40 points came against Wyoming and he once grabbed 20 rebounds against Oral Roberts.

 

"But my favorite place to play was the Marriott Center," Moore said. "Out of all the gyms in the country I loved that floor."

 

Considering everywhere Moore has been in his life, he said he is happy where he's at.

 

His hard work has led him into many new and different circumstances.

 

Moore had to live with different ideas when he was in Europe and he said he tried to get know the communities and the countries as much as possible.