Thursday, March 12, 1998
The more you know
Former UCLA women’s coach Billie Moore talks about the game
today and a vision for the future
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, is well known around the
country for his success as a Bruin coach and how he tremendously
influenced the game of basketball.
But many fail to remember another legendary and influential
basketball coach from UCLA.
Billie Moore coached the UCLA women’s basketball program for 16
years from 1978-1993. Moore led her Bruins to 296 victories,
ranking high on the list for most wins in women’s college
basketball history, seven tournament appearances – including five
Sweet 16 finishes, and UCLA’s one- and-only national championship
in women’s basketball in 1978.
The Daily Bruin recently talked to Moore about her thoughts.
Around the country UCLA is known for its great men’s basketball
program, and the one person that is usually associated with it is
John Wooden. A lot of people don’t really know about Billie Moore
and what you did for the UCLA women’s program and women’s
basketball in general. Do you have feel any resentment about
that?
It’s amazing now how many people in the profession since I have
been out of coaching do remember my accomplishments. It has amazed
me how many people do know and are much aware of my name, what I
have done and know it was at UCLA. But that is not the reason you
coach, that’s not why you do something like that. You don’t do it
for that recognition.
Do you feel overshadowed by John Wooden’s legacy at UCLA?
No. Obviously I think what Coach Wooden did at UCLA is something
that will never be repeated. No men’s program has come close to
accomplishing that since. They talk about Pat (Summit) possibly
coming close to that. She is a great friend of mine at the
University of Tennessee and is getting ready to maybe try to win a
sixth (national title). But that still pales in comparison.
(Wooden) cast a huge, huge shadow. He put UCLA on the map
athletically. But I always thought that it was more of a plus. I
never thought it was something that overshadowed me.
You not only brought the UCLA women’s basketball program to
national recognition but the sport of women’s basketball as well.
You coached the first USA Olympic women’s basketball team in 1976.
How do you feel about that?
One of the things I have always said is that I’ve enjoyed the
opportunity to be the first Olympic women’s basketball coach. I’ve
always told the players that were on that first team that there can
always be a lot of other Olympics but there will never be a first.
I feel the same way about the UCLA women’s basketball program.
Hopefully we will win a lot of championships, but I will always be
part of the first. I like being a pioneer.
Largely because of the gold medal victory in the 1996 Olympics
and the creation of the WNBA, women’s basketball is seeing an
ever-growing fan base. What do you see in the future of women’s
basketball?
I just hope that the two pro leagues (the ABL and WNBA) become
very solid so that there is that opportunity for both players and
coaches. Up until two years ago, if you were a female and wanted to
play professionally you had to go to Europe to play. That has
changed within two years. I hope these opportunities continue.
I would like to keep seeing the women’s game getting the same
kind of recognition, the same kind of fan support and media support
that it’s enjoying now. If it keeps growing I think we are on the
right track. So I guess my answer to you is that we don’t have to
do anything dramatic or drastic. If we stay on track and everything
keeps moving forward then women’s basketball should be fine.
A lot of people have criticized the women’s game as slow and
unexciting. Many want to lower the rims to make the women’s game
more exciting. Do you think they should?
No. I think Coach Wooden made a great quote about that a couple
of years ago. He said the only level where basketball is played
together as a team, as it is supposed to be played, is in the
women’s game.
It doesn’t take a lot of skill to dunk a basketball. It just
takes height and ability to jump. Lowering the rim is not going to
make the game more exciting. I think if you watch what’s happening
now in the game you’ll see that it is an up-tempo game. The
shooting is improved and the ball handling is improved. So I think
the game is fine the way it is and the height of the basket is fine
the way it is. You’ve got some women now that can dunk, so that’s
not that big an issue anymore.
Do you think women’s basketball will ever get as big as the
men’s game?
You approach it incorrectly when you think that we are competing
with the men’s game. The women’s game is women’s basketball. They
are excellent basketball players, they are excellent athletes –
they just happen to be female. They are not trying to compete with
the men, they are not trying to be compared with the men. They are
just women who play the game of basketball at a very highly skilled
level.
UCLA struggled after you left in 1993, going just 51-57, only to
resurge this season. Why do you believe the Bruins stumbled?
I think everything goes in cycles. I think it was just a matter
of recruiting. I think Kathy (Olivier) has done an excellent job of
recruiting. If the student athletes are not out there, you can’t
recruit them in. So I think the recruiting pool for UCLA in the
West just wasn’t there. I think Kathy’s first year, Natalie
(Williams) got hurt and they were young the last couple of
years.
What are your thoughts on UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier and what
she’s been able to do this season?
I think she has been obviously doing a wonderful job this year.
The thing I know about coaching though is that she probably has
worked just as hard and probably done just as good a job the last
couple years, but the win-loss record hasn’t been there. It takes a
lot more to coach with less talent than when you have the talent.
She’s probably done just a great coaching job the last couple of
years to get the wins she got.
The only time a UCLA women’s basketball team captured the
national title was when your team did it in 1978. How much longer
do you think it will be before another one?
It seems to me that it would be appropriate if it were to happen
in 1998. But you just don’t know. I really think this team has a
big opportunity to have a big impact in the NCAAs. Because if you
look at the team you will see that they are a sophomore team.
Obviously next year and the year after that they will be tough.
What is important is that they are going to get into the
post-season and the players will get to experience the tournament.
The players will get a feel for what it means, the excitement and
the electricity involved with it. The further the team goes into
it, the better the experience. And that carries over to next
season. So hopefully within the next couple years UCLA will have an
opportunity to win one.
Do you think the success of this season proves that the Bruins
are back to the heights you took them?
Everything cycles. So you would like to think it is. It’s a team
that has good balance, good chemistry and all the ingredients that
is takes to be successful for years. If you talk to Kathy and
people around the program, they will tell you that so much of that
is based on recruiting. They put together a good recruiting class
that happens to be sophomores right now, and they have some seniors
on their team. If you look game in and game out, the key
contributors to the program are underclassmen. Hopefully the UCLA
women’s basketball program has arrived this year and will stay in
the national picture.Daily Bruin file photo
Billie Moore (right) talks to freshman guard Michelle Miles
during a game in 1989.