One of the things Wes Moore saw during his two days in late April as East Carolina University’s women’s basketball coach was how a program with a bigger budget could operate.
“I guess going through what I went through made me realize that I need to do something to try to make UTC women’s basketball as big-time as we can make it,” said Moore, who has led the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to 11 straight Southern Conference titles.
Moore is now on a mission to do just that. He and assistant athletic director Andrew Horton, who deals primarily in fundraising, have launched a five-year initiative called “Support-Her.”
The goal is to raise $60,000 a year for the next five years, with the money going to travel, equipment and other operating costs. Whatever money is raised through donations — with contributors giving a set amount for five years — will be matched by Chattem, Moore said.
Dean and Mary Jane Heavener, longtime friends of Moore’s program, already have committed to contributing — Moore gave Dean the net from one of the goals after UTC won the SoCon tournament last season — and Horton said several other supporters are interested.