Albany State looking for new men’s basketball coach

ALBANY — Albany State’s athletics department announced Tuesday evening that it is parting ways with men’s basketball head coach Michael Moore.

In the course of four years at ASU, Moore amassed a 32-80 overall record and a 21-52 SIAC record.

Assistant coach Lamar Karim will take over as the university conducts a search for its ninth head coach in program history.

While it is the end of a chapter for the university, it is the storybook ending Moore had often dreamed about.

“I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me because in my coaching span I’ve had my dream job at Fort Valley (State), and then to back-end my coaching career at my alma mater,” Moore said. “And in between those two, I was as Georgia Southwestern and I’m a part of Georgia basketball history by being the only coach to win 30 games in a regular season.

“So to have my name as a part of Georgia history and to see my memorabilia from when we won a championship at Fort Valley, that was big for me.”

Moore was hired in November 2014, just two days before the start of the season, and said he knew he had been called upon for a specific purpose.

“There was no promise of me being the head coach beyond that year,” he said. “I told them, ‘That’s fine with me. Whatever you want me to do as an alumnus of this institution, I’ll do it.’

“I tell everybody, I didn’t think I would be here this long. I just thought they wanted me to do what I did. I came in, I cleaned up the program, organized, got it disciplined. Public relations, we did a good job out in the community, so I think I did what they brought me in to do. I want to thank Dr. (Richard) Williams, Dr. (Stephanie) Dyer and Dr. (Art) Dunning.”

Moore said he leaves behind a talented, disciplined roster, and ASU athletics director Sherie Gordon echoed those statements in a release Tuesday.

“We thank Coach Moore for his four years of service to our student-athletes, the community and the university,” Gordon said. “We look ahead to moving the program forward with a group of dedicated returning players.”

Before Albany State, Moore served stints a number of Georgia colleges. Fort Valley State, ASU’s rival, was where he got his head coaching start.

Moore was 27 and the youngest head coach in the SIAC when he took over the Fort Valley State program. He had the opportunity to coach against former Albany State legend Oliver Jones, A.J. Tripplett, who was a staple at Morris Brown and Florida A&M, Ben Jobe at Tuskegee and a number of other 500-win coaches.

Moore said being voted SIAC Coach of the Year by a number of those legendary coaches was the highlight of his career.

Although it is the end of his coaching career at ASU, Moore said he will remain supportive and involved with the institution in any way he can.

“I love this area and I love Albany State,” he said. “It has given me my education, my standard of living and my wife. And all of the professors I had groomed me to get where I am today.

“I love this institution.”