CNN
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Billie Moore – the head coach of the very first US women’s Olympic basketball group, the initial head coach to direct two educational facilities to nationwide championships in women’s basketball and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame – died Wednesday at the age of 79.
Her dying was declared by UCLA, in which she led the Bruins to an Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women countrywide championship in 1978 and the Naismith Corridor of Fame, on Thursday.
The UCLA athletics office claimed Moore had been battling many myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses the body’s immune reaction, and she died at her property in Fullerton, California, surrounded by loved ones and buddies.
“Billie Moore was a trailblazer as a head coach and among the a extremely small team of persons that laid the foundation for where women’s basketball is nowadays,” Naismith Hall of Fame president and CEO John L. Doleva explained. “Her effect on the basketball neighborhood knows no boundaries, and she will be missed by the entire Corridor of Fame household.”
Moore, who coached UCLA from 1977 to 1993, retains the history for most wins (296) by a women’s head basketball mentor in application record.
Before coaching UCLA, Moore was the head mentor for the initial US women’s Olympic basketball workforce in 1976. With gamers such as Pat Summitt, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Lusia Harris and Nancy Lieberman, Moore led Team Usa to the silver medal at the Summer Online games in Montreal.
Moore, who was born in Westmoreland, Kansas, also led Cal State Fullerton to a nationwide title in 1970. She was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Corridor of Fame in 1999.
“One of the matters that, when I gained the contact, that was foremost in my head was that I’m staying inducted as mentor in a crew sport,” she said at her enshrinement. “And when you are in a crew activity, you are not in this article since of one thing you did on your own. It is apparent that this award is shared with a great deal of individuals that have performed a really significant aspect down by means of the many years and it belongs to a ton of men and women.”
She credited her father with giving her a adore and enthusiasm for the video game. She explained to the viewers she had hoped her career would not be dependent on wins and losses but in the lifelong good friends she manufactured on the court docket.
In general, Moore compiled a collegiate report of 436-196 for a .690 winning proportion.
Women’s Basketball Coaches Affiliation Government Director Danielle Donehew mentioned Moore was a huge who paved the way for other feminine coaches.
“Most importantly Billie was a trainer who ongoing to share her wisdom with previous student-athletes and colleagues like Pat Summitt, her mentee, very long just after Billie retired as a mentor,” she reported.
“I fulfilled Billie whilst doing work for Pat and will without end cherish her wisdom and humor. Billie’s impact on our sport survives her via the multitude of life, mine involved, she touched.”
