Quite simply one of the most successful basketball coaches in NCAA Division III history, Steve Moore has amassed a 36-year career record of 800-231, including an extraordinary mark of 713-166 the past 30 seasons at The College of Wooster, which puts him No. 2 in wins among Div. III coaches all-time.
The winningest coach at Wooster’s tradition-rich program, Moore has directed the Fighting Scots to 25 NCAA Tournament berths and a league-high 17 North Coast Athletic Conference championships, while compiling a winning percentage of .811.
Moore’s 800th career win was extra special as Wooster topped Ohio Wesleyan University in the championship game of the 2017 NCAC Tournament, giving the Scots a league-high 16 conference tournament crowns, and extending the Scots’ streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances out to a Div. III record 15. Notable, Moore is just the 18th coach in NCAA men’s basketball to reach the 800-win milestone.
Wooster’s recent stretch has been most impressive, as they’ve won 25 or more games 11 times over the last 19 seasons, highlighted by advancing to the national championship game and winning a team-record 31 games (31-3) during 2010-11. The Scots also reached the semifinals of the NCAA Div. III Championships in the 2002-03 and 2006-07 seasons, posting 30 wins in the former (30-3), and also of note, they’ve made it to the sectional round (“Sweet 16”) 10 years since 1998-99 (also doing so in 1998-99, 1999-00, 2003-04, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2015-16).
For his efforts, Moore has been named NCAC Coach of the Year on eight occasions (1990-91, 1991-92, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2013-14) and the NABC District Coach of the Year for the Great Lakes five times (1990-91, 1999-00, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2009-10). Also following the 2002-03 season, he was voted the Ohio College Basketball Coach of the Year, an annual recognition coordinated and sponsored by the Columbus Dispatch, and in April 2008, the NABC presented him a prestigious “Guardian of the Game” award for education, an honor also once bestowed to the legendary John Wooden.
In addition to all his success on the court, Moore served a four-year term on the prestigious NCAA rules committee, is a member of the NABC Congress, and served on the NABC ethics committee, and the Wooster basketball program holds several community service initiatives each year. Included among those are basketball skills’ clinics for local youth, fundraisers for Coaches vs. Cancer as well as encouraging fans to donate food and clothing in lieu of admission at its two annual tournaments, which benefits People-to-People ministry and Goodwill Industries, and participation in the NABC Dream to Read program with local elementary schools.