Tamara Moore’s legacy is growing.
The former Minneapolis North girls’ basketball superstar, who went on to enjoy a professional career in the WNBA, will enter the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame next month for her outstanding contributions as a member of the Badgers’ women’s team from 1998-2002.
Moore, who currently coaches the TC Elite of the Midwest Basketball League, was among 11 former UW athletes to be selected.
A 5’11’ guard, Moore started as a freshman at North under Coach Tanyus Chavers — who played professionally for the Minnesota Fillies of the Women’s Professional Basketball League during the late 1970s and early ’80s — leading to a Minneapolis City Conference title in 1995.
Former Marshall University High School standout Faith Johnson-Patterson, who starred at UW herself from 1980-84 and later became a Hall of Fame coach at North and DeLaSalle, took over the following season and Moore didn’t miss a beat.
By her junior year in 1997, North was in the Class 3A title game. They lost to Alexandria, but Moore led them back to the title team a year later — with a 29-0 record — as a senior, defeating Chaska for the 1998 3A title.
She was named 1998’s Miss Basketball and accepted a scholarship to play for UW. During her freshman year she led the Badgers to the WNIT title while being named tournament MVP. That was just the beginning.
By the time her career ended, Moore was a two-time All-Big Ten pick, the 2001 Big Ten Defensive Plyer of the Year, and the top assists and steals leader in school history.
Moore spent six years in the WNBA after being selected 15th overall in the 2002 WNBA draft by the Miami Sol. Since then Moore has become a guiding force in the community as an outspoken leader, coach and role model.
Perhaps she said it best after being named Ms. Basketball, recognizing what the accomplishment meant to her and the community. “It’s an honor for me and my school and my family,” Moore said. “More important is being the first African American to win it.”
Nineteen years later she’s a Hall of Famer.
The legacy continues.
Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader responses to mmcdonald@spokesman-recorder.com.
Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald is a contributing columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.