Wes Moore has resigned after two seasons as the head coach for boys' basketball at Chattanooga Christian School, where he was a prep standout three decades ago, and accepted a position as an assistant for the girls' basketball program at Boyd Buchanan, the school his daughters currently attend.
Moore informed members of the CCS boys' basketball team of his decision Wednesday afternoon.
"Obviously leaving my alma mater is a very difficult decision," Moore said. "I'm leaving behind a lot of memories and good times, but in order to do what's best for my family, this is the decision that needed to be made."
Moore was a three-time all-state point guard and Tennessee Mr. Basketball finalist at CCS, finishing with more than 2,700 career points. After a standout senior season in 1995, he was a finalist for the Scrappy Moore male athlete of the year award, presented annually at the Times Free Press Best of Preps banquet.
He went on to become a four-year starter at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, helping the 1997 team reach the Sweet 16 — the Mocs became just the second No. 14 seed in NCAA Division I tournament history to make it that far — and ended his collegiate career as UTC's career leader in assists and steals while also setting a program record for single-game 3-pointers made. He was inducted into the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
He worked as a graduate assistant at UTC for two years, then began his head coaching career in the high school ranks at Signal Mountain, where he was named district coach of the year in boys' basketball and also coached the girls' golf program to two state titles.
From 2011-14, he led the girls' basketball program at Notre Dame, where he was named region coach of the year three times, and followed that by taking over at GPS for two seasons (2015-17) before being hired at his alma mater as a girls' basketball assistant and the head golf coach, jobs he held for five years before taking over the boys' basketball program.
In his two seasons as head coach of the basketball Chargers, their notable successes included victories Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, which has received national recognition and produced multiple NBA players, and McCallie. CCS also beat rivals Boyd Buchanan and Notre Dame twice under Moore's direction and reached the championship game of last year's Best of Preps tournament.
"We are thankful for Coach Moore's contributions to the CCS basketball program, including his mentorship and recruitment of a stellar assistant coaching staff," CCS athletic director Daniel Russell said in a statement released Wednesday. "Wes has been a member of our basketball staff for seven years, and he will be missed on our boys and girls staff.
"He's leaving the program in a strong position, and we're excited to see the program continue to grow. In a short amount of time, Coach Moore and his staff have helped reveal the potential for basketball at CCS. We will begin the process of looking for our new head coach immediately."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.