CHARLOTTE — Between 1991 and 2020, the NC State women’s basketball team won zero ACC titles and had only been to the championship game three times in a nearly 30-year span. Since joining the Wolfpack in 2014-15, head coach Wes Moore has led the Pack to two straight ACC Championship wins in the past two years.
In spite of a disappointing 2021 NCAA Tournament appearance, Moore has lofty expectations for the upcoming season.
“NC State, I hope,” Moore said when asked what he thinks when he hears the word ‘three-peat.’ “It’s a great challenge but we’re excited about it. … Obviously, we’d love to, in the ACC, compete for regular season, tournament championships, things like that. But also we have some steps to make still nationally, as far as you know, Final Four, and above. So we realize it’s really tough when you get in that neighborhood. So we know we got a challenge ahead of us.”
The Wolfpack improved in every aspect of the game. First, Moore went out and ensured the team didn’t lose any of its upperclassmen to graduation. All three of the Pack’s eligible players, graduates in guard Raina Perez, guard Kai Crutchfield and forward Kayla Jones, all utilized the extra year of eligibility they got from a season afflicted with COVID-19.
From there, Moore added sophomore guard transfers Diamond Johnson and Madison Hayes, two five-star transfers. Johnson, in particular, averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a whopping 2.3 steals per game in a tremendous 50/40/90 shooting season.
If that wasn’t enough of a stacked roster, Moore added three five-star freshmen to his corps in guards Aziaha James and Jessica Timmons, and center Sophie Hart.
With all the new faces in the mix, it helps that roster veterans like Jones and senior center Elissa Cunane are transitioning to leadership roles.
“Yeah, I just remember being like a wide-eyed freshman and thinking that, ‘Oh, the seniors are talking to me, they’re helping me out,’” Cunane said. “And so I kind of want to be that for the younger people as well. I want to bring them along, encourage them and give them something to look up to along the way.”
Those newcomers will quickly learn, if they haven’t already, that Moore is no stranger to winning ways. Moore boasts a ludicrous 748-234 career head coaching record. In 32 full seasons, Moore finished with a winning record in 31 of them, 27 of which were 20-plus win seasons. The dude is a 13-time Coach of the Year.
According to Moore, the blueprint for building a contending team is simple.
“Well, like I said, if I’m talking to a young coach coming in, I’m saying ‘Recruit character, build culture,’” Moore said. “If you have good people in your program, they’re going to attract more good people. And I love these girls. I just love being around them. They’re fun. I’m proud of them off the court, wherever on the court. So just maintaining that. And then obviously a coaching staff that also makes them feel good about themselves too.”
Before coming to NC State, Moore coached at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. There, Moore led UTC to nine Southern Conference tournament championships, good for nine NCAA Tournament appearances in that timeframe. Moore came to NC State as the all-time winningest coach in SoCon history. According to the coach, that’s where he learned how to construct his rosters.
“Chattanooga, in my first year, we won 10 games and that was the only losing season I’ve endured,” Moore said. “Okay, the next year we won 25. I did the same exact things. It’s about players. And so I realized, you’ve got to have talent. We’re blessed right now to have some good talent.”
Despite the sheer amount of accolades at UTC, Moore said he felt driven to chase something new when he first came to NC State. Right now, all eyes are set on a national championship berth.
“It’s a lot more fun to me when you’re out there competing and striving,” Moore said. “I could have made a mistake, I could have stayed at Chattanooga. We’d won the league I think like 12 out of 15 years. … I use the analogy, I could have just floated down the river in my inner tube and enjoyed life, and instead, I’m crazy. I go get in a little kayak in a frickin’ stream with currents and rocks and everything else at NC State because it’s a challenge and let’s see if we can build something. So that’s when you really get rewarded and enjoy life.”
Make no mistake, Wes Moore is a winner in every sense of the word.
“Anything you do, you want to be great,” Moore said. “And I just have trouble with average. I have trouble with being satisfied, settling. Okay and so I want to make sure they don’t settle and I’m never satisfied. We want to strive for perfection.”
