UConn assistant coach Tom Moore of Millbury savoring another Huskies championship
Tom Moore was ordering a large coffee from Starbuck’s Wednesday afternoon and looking forward to a great night’s sleep, but, some 36 hours after the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team captured the national championship, obviously was still exhilarated.
UConn defeated San Diego State, 76-59, Monday night in Houston, and amidst the swirling confetti in the postgame celebration, players, coach Dan Hurley and his assistants wore nets around their necks, took turns hoisting the trophy, and proudly held up five fingers to acclaim the program’s fifth national championship.
Moore, who grew up in Millbury, graduated from St. John’s High, and is in the fifth season of his second stint on the Huskies coaching staff, has been part of three of them.
“It feels great,” Moore said in a phone interview.
The 57-year-old Moore, whose first head coaching job was at Worcester State, spent 13 seasons (1994-2007) on former UConn coach Jim Calhoun’s staff and helped guide the Huskies to their first two national titles, in 1999 and 2004.
“All three (national title teams he has been part of) were really different,” Moore said. “In 1999, there was the pressure for Coach Calhoun to make a Final Four. He had been considered probably the best coach in college basketball to that point not to make a Final Four. It was such a relief that year just winning the Elite 8 game. Winning it all was just the cherry on the top.”
UConn entered the ’99 final against Duke as a 10-point underdog and won, 77-74.
The 2004 team, considered a front-runner most of the year, overcame some injuries, peaked down the stretch, and beat Georgia Tech, 82-73 in the final.
This year’s team started 14-0, dipped in January, and dominated its NCAA Tournament competition, winning six games by an average margin of 20 points.
“The thing about this team that was different from the other two,” Moore said, “is I’ve never been around a team where all eight players in the rotation were playing well throughout the whole month of March. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“They were all super comfortable in their roles,” Moore added, “and they were on a hot streak the whole month. They went into every practice and every game with a confidence and a swagger, and feeling good about how they were playing. It was like this magic carpet ride. They looked like the team they were in November and December again.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Moore joked with graduate guard Joey Calcaterra and junior guard Andre Jackson that he wished there was another regional to go to next week.
“It was that type of group of guys,” Moore said. “You wanted to keep coaching them.”
Southborough's Alex Karaban a tremendous asset
Freshman forward Alex Karaban of Southborough, who started all but one game in 2022-23 and was a solid contributor all season, averaged 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in the NCAA tourney.
In the final, Karaban, who starred for one season at Algonquin Regional, had 5 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks.
“To get that consistency and poise out of a first-year player is amazing,” said Moore, who had an important role in recruiting Karaban.
This season, Karaban led the Huskies in minutes (1,129).
“He’s just that valuable,” Moore said. “You didn’t want to take him off the floor.”
Moore relishes relationship with George Blaney
Moore, who left UConn after the 2006-07 season to take over at Quinnipiac, where he led the Bobcats for 10 years, shared the 2004 national title with former Holy Cross coach George Blaney, who was a UConn assistant from 2000-13. Their relationship goes back to Moore’s youth, when he attended Blaney’s HC basketball camp.
After Monday’s game, Hurley, who played for Blaney for two seasons at Seton Hall, thanked his former coach.
Two games into his junior season, Hurley left the Seton Hall team, taking a personal leave of absence and unsure if he would play basketball again. When Blaney took over as Seton Hall coach the next year, he convinced Hurley to return.
“Dan credits Coach Blaney for saving his basketball life,” Moore said, “for helping him relocate his passion for the game. Coach Blaney’s touch and his compassion and his understanding came into Dan’s life, from a basketball perspective, when he needed someone like that the most. Knowing what a caring person Coach Blaney is, someone who understands the game and what the game can do for people and the redeeming power of the game, it’s not surprising.”
Moore hasn’t yet spoken to Blaney since UConn’s win Monday night, but he will. Moore received a congratulatory text from Blaney’s son, Brian.
The Huskies returned to Storrs Tuesday afternoon, and fans welcomed them back to Gampel Pavilion with a national championship rally. Among those in attendance was Calhoun.
“Dan has done a great job bringing him into the fold and having him talk to the team,” Moore said.
There will be a victory parade in downtown Hartford Saturday.
“It’s been really good winning and going on a run like this,” Moore said. “It gets people so excited. That’s the best part of it.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Millbury's Tom Moore celebrates winning another championship with UConn
