WVU Sports Hall of Fame

Inducted: 2008

Written by Bryan Messerly

Known as one of the most entertaining players to ever set foot on the Coliseum floor, Lowes Moore dazzled the crowd as a basketball player from 1977-80.

The Mt. Vernon, N.Y., native is only one of 11 Mountaineers to score more than 1,600 career points. As a standout guard, Moore scored 20 points or more 37 times, which ranks sixth in school history.

Perhaps his most stunning performance came on Jan. 25, 1978, when he scored a career-high 40 points on 12-of-25 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds against a Notre Dame squad that would eventually make it to the Final Four.

As a sophomore, Moore averaged 21.3 points per game, while shooting an impressive 48.7 percent from the floor. He earned Eastern 8 all-conference first-team honors twice in his career, and twice made the Eastern 8 all-tournament team.

Moore also finished 10th in the country in field goals made with 237 during his outstanding sophomore season. His skills were noticed throughout the country as he was recognized as an Associated Press honorable mention All-American in 1978, and would repeat the feat during his junior year.

In head coach Gale Catlett’s first season (1979), Moore had four 30-point games, topping out with a 34-point effort against Virginia Tech on Jan. 10. Having earned many all-conference honors, he was also a Sporting News honorable mention All-American.

The 6-1, 170-pound guard went on to average 16.4 points per game in his senior year and was selected in the third round of the NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets.

Moore is a member of the 1976-85 all-time team at WVU, and helped lead the revitalization of Mountaineer basketball that would follow throughout the 1980s.

He continues to reside in Mount Vernon and is an active contributor to that city’s Boys and Girls Club. Moore has been married for 25 years to his wife, Patrice. They have four children: Michelle (22), Shireyll (20), Lowes III (15) and Isiah (12).