City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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Chuck Moore came to Coatesville at a time when not many would.

Around the beginning of the 2013-14 school year, the Coatesville School District was experiencing a change of hands in district leadership amid a scandal involving financial mismanagement, and was developing a negative reputation throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

Moore wasn’t phased; a graduate of both Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s storied program and of the Vanderbilt Commodores’ class of 2002, he took over the Red Raiders’ program ready to revive the former glory of a hard-working, blue-collar town like Coatesville.

A long three year journey reached its newest height on February 8, when the most united of Moore’s three Coatesville teams won him his first Ches-Mont title.

“These fans are very passionate,” he said following the league championship game, 38-37 win over Downingtown West. “They want to win and they want to see their team win. The times could be good or bad, but now we are on the good train. It is great to see the community come together, it creates a great feeling. This is major for the city. Most of the time, you’re hearing Coatesville’s name in the news as of late for not good things, so now to open up the (news), see something positive, and to have a good feeling about Coatesville is great."

“For us to be the catalyst for that is major,” he continued. “I knew what I had coming in, although critics did not believe it. I knew if we had a good start and did well, we would bring the community out like they did today. That’s something I like to keep to myself, but winning the Ches-Mont, for the fans, for the community, and for the players, is something that is just fantastic.”

Make no mistake, since his arrival, Moore has had some talented teams--last year’s Red Raiders came within a win of the state playoffs--but the key to this year’s 23-1, No. 1-in-the-district campaign has been a team chemistry and togetherness that was noticeable even during summer workouts, back when most of the District 1 basketball community doubted Coatesville after the way its season ended.

“Starting in August, we started our preseason workouts, tryouts came around in November and the funny thing about tryouts was we only had thirteen kids come out,” said Moore. “For me personally, I love that, it’s not overwhelming and I can start practices but for everyone else around me, that was kind of an embarrassment, for a program like Coatesville. I was very familiar with the guys who came out, they bought into the system, bought into me, they knew to be successful it was going to take a team effort. Right away that chemistry was developed. Having guys who’d been in my program for three years already, it made that transition a lot easier for me and for them also.”

Guys like guard Rome Boyer and big man Justus Martinez have been with Moore since he first came to Coatesville, back when they were just sophomores. They saw the way last season went, in a locker room that lacked any type of unity.

They’ve been in some tough atmospheres this year, with three games against Downingtown West, as well as match-ups with Pennsbury, Reading, West Catholic, Lower Merion, and William Penn.

They just so happened to win all but one on that laundry list of high-profile games, a 49-39 home loss to West, but got that back with a road win over the Whippets as well as the championship game win. Through those wars, the familial bond at Coatesville has been strengthened exponentially.

“As nerve-wracking as some of the games have been for me this year, I knew walking away from them we got better as a team,” Moore said. “We learn something from every game. In the past we didn’t do that. We’d walk away frustrated, pointing fingers at one another, but these guys understood that in those moments you can always gain something, win or lose. I think, from that, they gained trust for each other, they didn’t force anything, they didn’t get down on themselves, they stayed confident in every situation, just a true testament to their development, and their growth in who they are as individuals.”

The journey, of course, isn’t over for the Coatesville team and community. Going forward into the district playoffs, the most stressful games are yet to come.

But Coatesville knows how to handle hard situations. They’ve been there, both off the court in the past, and on the court this season, and they’ve weathered it all.

No matter how far that toughness and chemistry takes the Red Raiders, they’ll always have the reminder of how far they came, with the 2016 Ches-Mont trophy in their case, and a banner hanging from the rafters of their gymnasium to be seen by generations to come.

“A moment like this is never forgotten. It etches your name in Coatesville history,” Moore remarked. “It’s something you can walk away with and be proud of. That’s what you play for; you play for the trophies, the comradery and team building, and for them to walk away with a trophy now puts a huge exclamation on who they are and the season they’ve had so far. I am elated for these guys. I do this for them. It’s nothing about me, it’s nothing personal, it’s about staying humble.

“ It’s something they can tell to their grandkids, he continued. “Those guys can look up and see they had something to prove, then look up on a banner and say ‘I did something.’ They’ve created legacies for themselves. I’m so proud of them.”