First-year Central girls basketball coach seeks to deepen players' ownership in team
Central varsity girls basketball coach Brett Moore watches and instructs from the sidelines during Friday night's home game. (Jim Slonoff photos)
Moore's daughter, Olivia, 6, swiped her mom's phone to snap a series of selfies with her dad after the Red Devils' victory over OP-RF Friday.
Brett Moore figured his high school coaching career was likely done after stepping down as Hinsdale South's head varsity boys basketball coach following the 2020-21 season.
"I chose family over basketball for a couple years and had really no plans on getting back into basketball," he told The Hinsdalean.
Then last year, Moore, a physical education teacher at Hinsdale Central, accepted an invitation from Red Devils head varsity boys basketball coach Nick Latorre to be his assistant. Meanwhile, the girls' program was experiencing some coaching turmoil. Many of the players were Moore's students, and he sympathized with their frustration.
"I saw that there was talent and decided to move over to girls basketball" this season, he said.
The role was not on Moore's 2024 vision board. But both his father and brother-in-law had in fact made a similar switch in their coaching careers.
"I guess it's kind of the family tradition," Moore quipped.
The result has revived another tradition: Devil victories. The team's 13 wins heading into tonight's game at Riverside-Brookfield is two more than last season's total, with a third of their games still to go. The team is on pace for its best campaign since the 2016-17 season. Moore said that's a testament to his team's unselfish play and dedication to improvement.
"Our girls are hungry and want to keep getting better," he said.
Growing up the son of a basketball coach in small-town Winchester (between Quincy and Springfield), Moore felt the call early on to be a sideline general. His first head coaching job came at Plano High School, a community where football ruled until his teams' performances enkindled hardcourt converts. At Hinsdale South, he unlocked players' talent and watched several go on to big-time college programs. No longer as vocal as in past years, Moore said his current charges provide the chatter.
"As a young coach I said way too much," he admitted. "I'm trying to put the communication more on them. I tell them all the time that they are the ones that have to be talking."
One word Moore will utter periodically is "donuts," a signal to be attentive to body control, not baked goods.
"It means to jump, stop and pivot," he said. "We have our own 'donut chain' that we give out as a reward (akin to the bling football players don after an outstanding play).
"And I ring a cowbell in practice when someone takes a good shot. Just some simple things that the girls have enjoyed," he added.
Moore leverages analytics to challenge his team, like data predicting a positive outcome if it holds the opponent to 0.8 points per possession while scoring an average of 0.9 on theirs.
Senior Katherine Skinner said the trust Moore exudes in their ability to achieve such goals is infectious.
"As a player, when you see a coach who has confidence in a program and in every individual, you get a boost of your own confidence, which makes the game more enjoyable," she said.
Moore took a leap of faith this season in implementing a 1-2-2 defensive scheme that he'd never tried before. Generally he endeavors to give the girls freedom to figure things out for themselves.
"We don't really run a ton of play, just concepts that they learn to play through," he said.
Senior Maya Gin said that emphasis on personal accountability has been empowering.
"This doesn't mean perfection every rep but it means that as a team we give our all to support each other as teammates and play together," Gin said.
Teammate and fellow senior Grace Dolan agreed, and said Moore's emphasis on keeping an aggressive mindset has been key.
"I think that's really played to our advantage. He encourages us to play a fast-pace game, and I think that's helped us become better decision-makers. He always reminds us of our end goal, and is consistently pushing us to get better," Dolan said. "I am having so much fun this season and am looking forward to continuing a successful season."
Relationships within coaching circles have been vital in his evolution, Moore said. He wants his players to value their fellowship, as well, whether in on-court competition or off-court cavorting. Winning certainly doesn't hurt that dynamic, and Moore delights in the way the school community has responded.
"The buzz around the school has been fantastic. The positivity around girls basketball this year has been really fun to see," he said.
His daughter Olivia, 6, and son Charlie, 4, enjoy being around the team, just as Moore did as a coach's kid.
"That's been the best part of reliving some of my memories from my childhood," he said.
Olivia takes special delight in accompanying dad to work, Moore noted.
"She wants to be around the girls as much as possible," he said.
Moore derives great reward from the tenacity and resilience his players have demonstrated.
"We want them to be proud of the program, and they can brag to their friends that they really played a role in turning it around," he said.
Moore has instilled in them the importance of always striving toward greater heights, Skinner commented.
"Coach Moore consistently reminds us that the past doesn't define our future, and that success is built one moment, one practice, one decision at a time," she said.
