Tamara Moore leads men’s college basketball team to historic season

Norsemen listen attentively to Moore's game plan to push ahead of their opponents. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

By Azhae’la Hanson, Reporter
Tamara Moore is no stranger to making history.

In 1998, Moore was voted the first Black Ms. Basketball in Minnesota, and led the Lady Polars of North High to the state championship that same year. In 2002 she finished her college career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison named the all-time leader in steals and assists. She went on to play 12 years of professional basketball overseas and in the WNBA.

She started her coaching career with the Edison High School girls basketball team when she got a call from an unfamiliar area code – Virginia, Minn. The familiar voice on the other end said there was an opening to coach the men's basketball team.

The caller was Sara Matufzak, the volleyball coach at Mesabi Range, and her former guidance counselor from North High.

Matufzak initially wanted to catch up, but when Moore inquired about an opening for a girls basketball coach, Matufzak replied no. And sent her the application for the men's coaching job instead.

“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she couldn't do it,” Matufzak said.

Moore sits in solitude before her games and takes a quiet moment to go over her gameplay and listen to gospel music. "Won’t He Do It", by Koryn Hawthorne, fit her mood this Sunday afternoon. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

And so within years of not even knowing Virginia Minn. existed, Moore prepared to make it her home.

By accepting the job, Moore made history again as the first Black woman to coach a men's collegiate basketball team. She is one of three women in the U.S to ever accomplish the feat.

Moore just finished her second season as head coach of the Norsemen, a Division III junior college team. This season, the team has seen a night-and-day transformation from the prior year finishing with a record of 19-10 versus 9-17 in 2021-22.

In late February, Moore led the Norsemen to their most successful season since 2014, and competed in the state championship game for the first time in 21 years.

“To know I didn't even know about this town or this school before I got hired is crazy,” Moore said. “It’s crazy how the connection of North High brought me out here. The Northside has been in everything in my life.”

Although Moore started her collegiate coaching career in an unfamiliar place, she brought along pieces of home with her – some of her players.

Moore and former Henry standout Mark Campbell banter back and forth about which Northside high school is the best as they enter the championship arena. They laugh and agree to disagree. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

“They chose me and I chose them,” Moore said. “And every day they choose me and I choose them.”

When it was time to build her team of Norsemen, she turned to the same recreation centers in which she grew up playing basketball. The majority of Moore’s players hail from Henry, North, and Edison high schools, and are players she’s been watching since before they were teenagers.

For a time, Moore coached in the Run and Shoot Basketball League at Fairview Park alongside her lifelong friend, Jamil Jackson. Three of her starting five grew up playing in the league.

She met Glentrel Carter when he was just 12 and coached his big sister.

“I already knew what type of coach she was,” Carter said. “I knew her hunger for the game. It was the same as mine.”

Moore gets active on the sidelines, and yells to her players to get low and stay on their opponent. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

Moore is determined to give opportunities to athletes from her community to play collegiate ball. When Mark Campbell was a senior at Henry High School, Moore told his entire basketball team they could play for her.

“Stuff at home was really just a distraction from the goals that I want to accomplish,” Campbell said. “I wanted to surround myself with the right people, and limit myself to stuff I could get into.”

Campbell goes up for a basket. He finished the game with 12 points. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

The isolation of leaving the big city and spending three years in a place like small- town Minnesota, made Moore and her team curate a family of their own. Her duties as a coach go beyond the court, and she often adopts the role of an aunt or mother figure for the team.

“If I can do anything, I'm going to make sure they’re never hungry,” Moore said. “I cook dinner, I give rides, I open the gym so they have a place to go, we go tubing or to the movies, or sometimes to the Walmart. There’s not a lot to do here so I want to show them that they have a support system.”

When Moore first got the job, they weren’t allowed to play their first season because of COVID-19, so she spent a year getting to know her players before ever stepping on to the court.

“I got seven guys going and I know I'm not ready for them to be gone, they're my babies,” Moore said.

This year's team started with 26 players, but by the time they entered the gym, numbers dwindled to 14. Half of the remaining bunch are in their last year at Mesabi Range and fought to make their last year count.

“She took her team to the next level and it's just been a real blessing for our conference,” said Kurt Kohler, executive director of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC). “Her passion for the game, but probably more important, the passion for the relationships that she has with their players, is what we want out of everybody in society. She just really embodies what a leader in the coaching role is all about.”

On Feb. 26, Moore and the Norsemen entered the Anoka Ramsey Community College gym to compete for the Region XIII Championship title and advance to nationals.

Moore comforts sophomore Glentrel Carter after the loss in the Norsemen quest for title. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

“Go son!” and “You got this, Tamara!” could be heard from the crowd as the players took to the court.

It was the closest game that many of the Northside players have had to home in the past three years, and the first time their families would be able to make the drive and see them play–and it was a packed house.

Jamil Jackson attended to support his former players, and Moore. “It’s a great feeling to see them continue their dreams,” he said.

The game had most spectators on the edge of their seats, however the Norsemen fell behind 10 points and couldn't close the gap in time. Mesabi Range lost 69-79 to Rochester Community and Technical College.

As the clock hit zero, Moore ran to comfort her sophomore players.

“Hold your heads high,”she told the players. “You fought to make it here, I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. Today wasn’t our day, but you still have tomorrow.”

Moore is planning on returning to Mesabi Range for one more year, and then will begin applying for higher coaching positions. She hopes to one day coach a Division 1 team, and work with the NBA.

“I’m not ready to be done coaching these boys,” Moore said.

No matter where she goes, she plans on bringing the Northside with her.