Moore follows her destiny

By Gerald Frazier
Daily Forty-Niner

Basketball is Long Beach State senior Jackie Moore's destiny.

"I went with a friend to try out, I was not going to try out," Moore said. "I was sitting on the sideline and the coach was like 'You want to play?'"

Moore had never touched a basketball before. The coach eventually convinced her to try out and she made the team.

"If I would have never went I would have never played basketball," she said.

Now eight years later, basketball at LBSU has helped shape Moore's life off the court.

"Basketball has given me a lot," Moore said. "Being able to work with a team and having all the responsibilities and time management, I think it is going to push me more in life."

Born Nov. 6 1979, the 6-foot-2 center has scored a career high of 15 points in a single game five times. Her other accomplishments include 11 rebounds against CSU Fullerton in 1999 and finishing third on the team in conference scoring with an average of 9.1 points per game.

The Long Beach native also has one other major influence on her life – her 3-year-old daughter.

"I want to be an example for her and show her anything is possible," Moore said. By "showing her and teaching her the things that I have learned from basketball."

Moore's support system is made up of her mother, her two younger sisters, one brother, her daughter's father and the entire coaching staff.

"My success is their success," she said. "I could not do it with out them."

Moore would be the first in her family to graduate from college. She is a criminal justice major and plans to be a probation officer, or social worker, working with teen-agers.

But the world of social work and troubled teens may have to wait its turn as Moore has her eyes on the Women's National Basketball Association.

"If the door is open for it, I am going to take it," she said. "There are a couple of coaches looking at me from the WNBA, Michael Cooper [Los Angeles Sparks coach] came to practice two weeks ago."

But if the WNBA door is somehow not open, Moore said she would look to play overseas.

Before the creation of the WNBA, playing overseas was the only option women had if they wanted to play professional basketball.

"I think it is great to give women an opportunity as well as men, because there is no use to wasting talent like that," Moore said. "There are a lot of women out there with talent."

For now, Moore will lace up her shoes and go to battle for the 49ers one last year. Moore and the team look to build on last season's success.

"We made it to the [National Invitational Tournament], and even though we did not get picked to the NCAA tournament, we went somewhere and we got our foot in the door," she said.