Porter Moser returned to his home state Thursday and was named Illinois State's 17th head basketball coach.
Along with three years of head coaching experience and a 54-34 (.614) record at Arkansas-Little Rock, Moser, a native of Naperville, Ill., served 10 years as a Division I assistant and competed in the Missouri Valley Conference as a student-athlete.
Moser is anxious about his return to the state of Illinois and The Valley.
"Basketball has been a part of my life since I was 5 years old and to think that I'm going to be coming back to coach at Illinois State is a dream," Moser said. "I have a vision for what I want for Illinois State basketball. There is no one that is going to work harder to make that vision become a reality than me. I've experienced the Missouri Valley. I've won a championship in this league and I want to bring that back to Illinois State."
In his first season as a head coach, Moser inherited a 4-24 Trojan team. He responded by guiding UALR to an 18-11 mark, which was the largest turnaround in Sun Belt Conference history and tied for the biggest reversal of fortune at the Division I level that season.
When Moser took over the program, the Trojans ranked last in several defensive categories in the Sun Belt and their winning percentage was not the only turnaround. After that first season, UALR finished tops in the conference in field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense and second in scoring defense.
Heading into his second season, Moser had lost four starters and the top three scorers, but still managed to post an 18-11 record while again leading the league in three-point field goal percentage defense. In 2002-03, the Trojans finished with an 18-12 mark that included an 84-75 win over Western Athletic Conference Tournament champion Colorado State.
Through three seasons at Arkansas-Little Rock, Moser molded Trojan basketball into one of the biggest tickets in town. He looks to create the same type of atmosphere at Illinois State.
"Redbird Arena is one of the best arenas in the country," Moser said. "It is right there on campus surrounded by all the residence halls and apartments. We have to get the student body 'jacked up' and that is a priority of mine. I know they can be because they yelled at me when I played there for Creighton. I know how loud it can be and what kind of great atmosphere it can be there. It is exciting for me to go to a basketball-rich school."
His hands-on approach and enthusiasm impressed Illinois State Director of Athletics Perk Weisenburger.
"We are extremely pleased to have attracted a coach of Porter's ability to Illinois State," Weisenburger said. "He has rebuilt a program at UALR with energy, passion, enthusiasm, hard work and the recruitment of good solid players. He's a meticulous student of the game, who has a proven blueprint for success that he brings to Illinois State."
Prior to becoming the Trojans' head coach, Moser served two seasons as an assistant at UALR under Wimp Sanderson and current Dallas Maverick assistant Sidney Moncrief.
After his playing career ended at Creighton, Moser stayed with the Bluejays as a graduate assistant coach on Tony Barone's staff during the 1990-91 season. That year, the Bluejays won the Valley and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The following season, Moser left Creighton to rejoin Barone for his first of two stints at Texas A&M. Moser served as an assistant coach with the Aggies from 1991-95 and was instrumental in their 1994 National Invitation Tournament bid. Texas A&M finished the season with a 19-11 record and advanced to its first postseason appearance in seven years.
Moser's tenure at Texas A&M was interrupted by a one-year stint as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he was a key part of the Panthers' highest-ranked recruiting class in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.
After one season at UW-Milwaukee, Moser returned for two more seasons at Texas A&M under Barone before landing in Little Rock.
A 1986 graduate of Benet Academy in Lisle, Moser was a two-year starter for Creighton as a guard, including the Bluejays' 1989 Missouri Valley Conference championship team. As a senior, Moser was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team. He graduated in 1990 from Creighton with a degree in business management.
The 34-year-old Moser, born August 24, 1968, is married to the former Megan Lewis. They are the parents of a daughter, Jordan, age 1, and a son, Jake, two months.
What They Say About Porter Moser
Tony Barone, Director of Player Personnel for the Memphis Grizzlies and former Creighton head coach
"This guy is a superstar. He has stepped up to the table as a coach in a period of time that is very, very difficult to coach college basketball. The student-athlete is a different type of student-athlete and the relations that you build with your players are critical. Porter, beyond the X's-and-O's, is a tremendous family builder. I think that he will build a family at Illinois State within the community and within his team that everyone will be very proud of. It kind of went unnoticed, but he took a team that won four games and the next year won 18 games. That's not a rebuilding process -that's a miracle. I think Illinois State deserves a quality basketball coach who is also going to unite the community (student and Bloomington-Normal) and Porter is going to do that."
Perk Weisenburger, Illinois State Director of Athletics
"We are extremely pleased to have attracted a coach of Porter's ability to Illinois State. He has rebuilt a program at UALR with energy, passion, enthusiasm, hard work and the recruitment of good solid players. He's a meticulous student of the game, who has a proven blueprint for success that he brings to Illinois State. Porter has tremendous relationship skills that have allowed him to be a relentless recruiter, an adept motivator and a solid teacher of the game. His infectious personality and work ethic give him the ability needed to build a championship program. Our players will learn to play hard and the basketball fans of Bloomington-Normal and the state of Illinois will thoroughly enjoy him as a leader and coach."
Dr. Al Bowman, Illinois State University Interim President Designate
"I was extremely impressed with both his enthusiasm for Illinois State University and his level of professionalism. I am optimistic that he will bring great success to the Illinois State basketball program and he will help advance the stature of this great institution."
Doug Elgin, Missouri Valley Conference Commissioner
"Porter has a great deal of energy and enthusiasm. He has a passion for the game that he had as a player and has carried over as a coach. He is a strong motivator, not just of student-athletes, but also the student body. Porter will bring a great deal of community support to the program. I'm convinced that he will be very successful in our league. I'm really excited for the Illinois State program and that it's in the hands of Porter Moser."
Wright Waters, Sun Belt Conference Commissioner
"He is an outstanding young coach. Porter has a tremendous passion for the game of basketball and I'm sure that he'll be successful no matter where he goes."
Dave Odom, South Carolina head coach
"Porter is one of the finest young coaches in the game today. He has accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time. He has proved to be a great teacher of the game and a strategist, but perhaps his finest quality is his ability to relate to student-athletes. Not only does he motivate student-athletes to become great basketball players, he helps them become great people as well."
Dennis Felton, Western Kentucky head coach
"Porter has great energy and enthusiasm. He's an excellent coach that gets his teams to compete at a very high level. Porter and his staff are always well organized and a challenge to compete against. His teams have the one thing that any good team has to have and that's the desire to compete. Porter's team come to play every time out."
Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma head coach
"I think it's a great hire by Illinois State. Porter took over an Arkansas-Little Rock program that was down and he put his stamp on it. Not only is he a bright coach, but he represents what's right in this profession. He does it with integrity, he's got a great work ethic and he does what's best for young people."
Bill Self, Illinois head coach
"Porter is a great hire. He has had experience of pumping energy into a program. With what I know about Illinois State, it is one of the best jobs in the Missouri Valley Conference with a vibrant community, a great facility and a quality product. Porter is a great choice to direct it."
Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State head coach
"Porter is a very good basketball coach and an even better person. He will do a tremendous job representing Illinois State and he will make them a winner. This was a very good hire for the program."
Quoting Coach Moser
On choosing Illinois State ...
"I know the Missouri Valley Conference and I look at Illinois State as the premier job in that league. I played in Horton Field House when I was a freshman and I can remember how vocal and educated the crowd was. The atmosphere was chilling. I know that with the history of this program and the enthusiasm that I bring, there is an environment to create a championship atmosphere."
On coming back to the state of Illinois ...
"Basketball has been a part of my life since I was 5 years old and to think that I'm going to be able to come back and coach at Illinois State is a dream. I have a vision for what I want for Illinois State basketball. There is no one that is going to work harder to make that vision become a reality than me. I've experienced the Missouri Valley. I've won a championship in this league and I want to bring that to Illinois State."
On the potential at Illinois State ...
"Redbird Arena is one of the best arenas in the country. It is right there on campus surrounded by all the residence halls and apartments. We have to get the student body 'jacked up' and that is a priority of mine. I know they can be because they yelled at me when I played there for Creighton. I know how loud it can be and what kind of great atmosphere it can be there. It is exciting for me to go to a basketball-rich school."
On recruiting at Illinois State ...
"It's a hot bed. There is no doubt. Illinois State is essentially located between a lot of recruiting hot beds. My age is a positive in recruiting. I have a passion for recruiting and I think it is going to be a vital part of building this program. I've always approached recruiting as building relationships and you have to work at it. As a head coach, I have an assistant coaches' mentality when it comes to recruiting. I'm on the phone, I'm writing letters, I?m in the car, I'm working it. There will not be one recruit or prospect that won?t know what is going on at Illinois State."
On his style of play ...
" I coach with a lot of passion and my teams play with a lot of passion. In my first year at Arkansas-Little Rock, we turned around the program (at UALR) with defense. We went from last to first in team defense. I think people that watch us play are going to see us play with an incredible amount of passion."
On the Missouri Valley Conference ...
"This is one of the most respected leagues in the country. The teams in this league have had a lot of success. The coaches in this league are phenomenal, the recruiting is top-notch and the tradition is strong. I played in this league for four years and I have firsthand knowledge on how great this league is. I'm so excited to once again be a part of this great league."
