#FromtheArchives: Remembering Billie Moore

Join us tonight to talk about the legendary coach, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 79.

Dec 15, 2022

Hi, friends. Today we got the devastating news that legendary basketball coach Billie Moore passed away on Wednesday night at her home in California at the age of 79 years old.

Moore won two national championships as a collegiate coach, leading Cal State Fullerton to the title in 1969 and winning the AIAW championship with UCLA in 1978. She also served as the head coach of the U.S. national team in 1976, and led the U.S. to a silver medal at the ‘76 games, which was the first year women’s basketball was contested in the Olympics.

*****Coincidentally, in just one hour, at 7:00 p.m. ET, Power Plays is hosting a zoom call with Mary Anne O’Connor, a player on the 1976 team, and Andrew Maraniss, the author of “Inaugural Ballers: The True Story of the First U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team.”

This is the link to register to join the event, it is on zoom and open to all.***

We will be celebrating Moore’s life together, and learning more about her legacy from two people who know her well. I hope you can come!

A replay will be available for paid subscribers to Power Plays. If you’re not a paid subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one! We’re currently having a sale, and subscriptions are 34% off. It also makes a great holiday gift for the women’s sports fan in your life.

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For a comprehensive look at Moore’s career and impact, I recommend that you read “Inaugural Ballers” and this beautiful remembrance by M.A. Voepel over at ESPN today.

But, in true Power Plays fashion, I went searching through the newspaper archives for feature that I think you’ll love. Here’s Ron Rapoport on the “mellowing” of Billie Moore:

A Happy Coaching Change by Ron Rapoport (The Los Angeles Times; Tuesday, March 1, 1977)

A Happy Coaching Change She doesn't lose very often but Billie Moore has learned to live with an occasional defeat BY RON RAPOPORT Times Staff Writer These are the best of times for Billie Moore. The revolution in women's basketball which includes better players, better facilities, larger crowds, more attention from the media and public and, perhaps most important, more respect is in full swing. Her Cal State Fullerton team remains a national power, has lost only two games in 17 starts this season and has a solid chance of winning its seventh regional championship. Moore has been recruited by so many big-name schools looking to establish themselves in women's basketball that she loses count. Just last year, before she went to Montreal to coach the first-ever U.S. women's Olympic basketball team, she says she was approached by UCLA, USC, Arizona, Arizona State, Penn State, Oklahoma and Oral Roberts and turned them all down. This year, say those in a position to know, Billie Moore has come to terms with herself. She has mellowed. "My first year here," said Nancy Dunkle, Fullerton's AU-American senior center, "she was a tyrant. She was very disciplined and strict and would never give in. But she's mellowed a little bit. I still think she's intense and excited, but maybe she's had her fill of basketball. Maybe she realizes she doesn't need to be as strict. I like her better this way." "I don't know what causes a person to change," said Debbie Ricketts, a senior guard and a top player. "It's probably getting easier for her to lose. She used to be more strict, but she's gotten a little more mellow. Maybe it's just the times, but it's better for the team because people change and she's got to change with them." — caption...

The Mellowing of Billie Moore Continued from First Page Billie Moore agrees. "I don't think I'm as demanding now," she said. "I think I have more patience. The biggest change is I can sort things out. I used to suffer with each loss. Now I can keep it in proper perspective. I know that now I'm able, instead of spending so much time and being concerned about a loss, to learn from it and move ahead and do other things. "I think the players and I have a good rapport, ability to communicate. They have to be able to relate to you. You can't demand your players' respect and they can't demand you respect them. It has to be earned." But while Dunkle and Ricketts say respect for the coach has always been strong, communication has sometimes been a sore spot. "Before," said Dunkle, "she wouldn't listen to us. She had to have things her way. In practices, for instance, we did the same thing every day and never got a change." Earlier this season, in fact, Dunkle, Ricketts and Brenda Martin told Moore the team was losing intensity because practices were so monotonous. "We did the same things over and over, just walked through them and didn't get our minds in it," said Dunkle. "It was really getting to me. We thought some kids needed more encouragement too." Shortly after that, the point was driven home when Fullerton was upset by Long Beach State. It later lost to UCLA. " She took it OK," Dunkle said of Moore, "and she made some changes so she must have thought about it. We do more things now. "Earlier, we worked a lot more on fundamentals. Now we work on offense and defense more and do about half the running we used to." Ricketts said Moore has become more relaxed in other areas. "At games we had to be really dressed up wear skirts and everything," she said of Moore's rules three and four years ago. "And a lot of people on the team thought it was ridiculous. "We'd say, 'Let's take a vote,' and she'd say, “There's only one vote that counts.' But last year, you could wear nice pants and now it's corduroys, which she wouldn't have allowed two years ago." The players say Moore's mellowing has not diminished their respect for her. "I really respect her." said Ricketts, "but I don't feel I have to put her on a pedestal. I can go over to her house and talk easily. I'll even clean her house sometimes; I've had coaches who really stifled me and made it hard to perform. I look at her as a really good friend." "She has great charisma, a great way of dealing with people," said Dunkle who admitted to "not being confident" of her off-court relationship with Moore. "She's a real powerful human being. She's influenced a lot of people's lives. She's influenced me mainly in the confidence I have in myself." Moore has been tempted by some of the recruiter's offers, but has stayed for two reasons. First, she doesn't want the athletic director duties that usually come with the job at other schools, preferring to be assistant AD at Fullerton, and able to concentrate on coaching. Second, women's basketball is big at Fullerton. Why fight the attention given the men's sports at larger schools? The practice was over and a visitor suddenly realized that his final illusion had been shattered. He had seen women play top-flight competitive basketball before and had been impressed with their skills and intensity. But he hadn't seen a practice before and wasn't ready for it. For two hours, it was drive, pass, defend, shoot and rebound at a relentless pace. Over and over, players went through drill after drill as the coach frowned, shouted, gestured, criticized and said do it again. Billie Moore smiled when the drill's length and tempo were mentioned. "Actually, we were tapering off today," she said. "We've got a game tomorrow night." The small office off the gym floor was quiet except for the voice of Billie Moore. "There's no question in my mind you can be just as demanding (as coaches of men's teams)," she said. "The expectation level is the same. Men are so strong and quick they can do things differently, but we can run the same offenses and defenses. "I don't think many men's programs ask more than ours does. The players put in the same amount of time. They have the same motivation, the same desires, except they can't have a pro career. So what you can demand, what you can expect, I don't think there's any difference. "Maybe it's more important to them (than to men) in a way. There are two high levels women aspire to and one is collegiate (AAU competition is the other). So maybe they know it's the highest level they can reach and it's more important to them. It's the only game in town." Moore began coaching at Fullerton in 1969, when the women's basketball revolution was getting under way. The restrictive rules that had six persons on a side, designated offensive and defensive zones and allowed only certain players to shoot had given way to a game nearly identical to men's basketball. "More kids are playing now," she said. "There are more high school programs. And Title IX had a big effect. Social values have changed. The female athlete in high school is encouraged. It's a very accepted aspect of the high school environment. Eight or nine years ago, it wasn't. "And there are better coaches in high school. Summer camps are open and summer leagues. There are many ways for female athletes to practice and improve." There are countless signs that the game is catching on, Moore said. Four summers ago, for instance she worked at a girl's basketball camp run by Bill Sharman and John Wooden. Two summers ago, she started her own and it sold out. Last year she had two and they sold out. This year she will have three in California and one in Colorado. All are expected to sell out. Public interest and media coverage have grown. "The year we won the national title (1969) we came back and got a little bitty news clipping in our local paper," she said. "Now the student body is aware of our players; the community is very supportive. "Five or six years ago, you needed a gym holding 3,000 to hold the national championships. Now it has to be 10,000 or 12,000." Moore said player quality has improved tremendously. "Seven years ago we won the national championship and we've had a better team each year after that and we haven't won since. I expect the players will keep getting better. I don't know where it will level off. The centers will be 6-5, 6-6, 6-7. There are some like that now in high school. They're not real skilled, but as we get hold of them earlier they will improve." When women's basketball became an Olympic sport last year for the first time, the U.S. team won a silver medal, losing to the Soviet Union but its greatest effect may not have been felt yet. "Probably what it did to young people was the most important thing," Moore said. "I don't know how many were sitting and watching and saying. 'In 1984 or '88, I'm going to be in the Olympics. That's what has to happen." Moore expects that as the skill level increases, professional women's basketball will flourish, the national and regional collegiate championships will be televised and arenas around the country will be packed. "It's exciting to be around as it's getting going," she said, "but 20 years from now I might wish I was just coming in." Lately, Moore has begun to think of taking a break from basketball. "Except for my camp, I'm going to get away from coaching this summer," she said. "I try to get away from it– you can get so tied up in it – although I think I do a poor job with it. Everything I have to do seems tied up with basketball camps, clinics, banquets. But at least that's not coaching. "Will I still be coaching 30 years from now? I don't think so. Mentally, physically and emotionally, you would not be able to give 100 per cent. There's no question it's a very demanding profession. "Mentally, you have to be careful. It can be a task, to come to practice. When you lose your enthusiasm as a coach, your players can lose their en-thusiam for the game. I think if you don't enjoy it and it becomes a job for you, you've probably stayed in it too long. I'd hate to think what it would be like if it were a job."

2 Comments

Kara Newhouse

Dec 25, 2022

I always love #fromthearchives and this was definitely a fun one, despite the sad context.

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Ann

Dec 16, 2022

Thanks for the post and discussion tonight. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I appreciate you shining a light on the book and the 76 Olympic basketball team.

Power Plays

#FromtheArchives: Remembering Billie Moore

Join us *tonight* to talk about the legendary coach, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 79.

A Happy Coaching Change by Ron Rapoport (The Los Angeles Times; Tuesday, March 1, 1977)

Join us tonight to talk about the legendary coach, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 79.