< Previous 9 MEN’S B ASKETB ALL S T AFF IRA BOWMAN Assistant Coach STEVEN PEARL Assistant Coach WES FLANIGAN Assistant Coach DAMON DAVIS Strength & Conditioning Coach RANDY ROBERTS Chaplain CLARK PEARSON Athletic Trainer IAN BORDERS Video Coordinator MADDUX JEFFREYS Graduate Assistant KT HARRELL Graduate Assistant CHAD PREWETT Director of Operations MARQUIS DANIELS Director of Player Development MIKE BURGOMASTER Assistant Director of Operations TRA’CEE TANNER Equipment Manager HOLLY MCKEE Sports Dietitian CLICK EACH PHOTO FOR FULL BIO10 FEA TURE: CHRIS MOORE Q&A Bruce Pearl called CHRIS MOORE a “glue guy” prior to the season, somebody versatile enough to play multiple positions. As a freshman, he’s played in 16 games and scored in 13 of them, including a career-high 11 points last week against Missouri. Get to know the Arkansas native in our latest newcomer spotlight. Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions? Moore: I’ve got a little prayer that I do. It’s a little salute to God right before tip-off. Do you have any hidden talents? Moore: I can dance. I took a dance class when I was younger. I used to be skinny, but now I got big so it doesn’t look the same anymore. When did you start playing basketball? Moore: It was second grade when I first started playing basketball. I really wasn’t into it that much. I was always a football player. I used to want to be the next Chris Johnson. I always looked up to him when he played for the Titans. But it’s actually a crazy story. My first organized basketball was the Boys and Girls Club in West Memphis. We lost every single game, and I wanted to quit. But my brother pushed me to keep going and be a multi-sport athlete. Did you play football through high school? Moore: I stopped eighth grade year for two reasons. One reason, I tore my meniscus in my left knee. It was our last game. I caught a touchdown and landed on my knee first and kind of went back, and I guess I tore my meniscus. I also stopped playing because I was the first ninth grader at my school to play varsity basketball. I was the first in Westminster’s history. Who’s your favorite NBA player? Moore: Lebron. He’s actually one of the reasons why I love basketball. The first game I saw him play was against the Denver Nuggets when Carmelo (Anthony) was playing there. He picked them apart. I think he dunked on Marcus Camby and that’s when I asked somebody, “Will I ever be able to dunk like that?” My brother told me, “If you put in the work and you trust the process, we can get you like that.” That’s when I started playing basketball. Has anybody thrown around the Charles Barkley comparison? Moore: A lot. I get compared to Charles a lot. I really can’t wait to meet him. Picking his brain about how college was, how somebody like me being a hybrid can be the way he was. What made you choose Auburn? Moore: Coach Pearl had a message that stuck with me. He told me, “When you leave here, you have to think of Auburn being a place you want to come back to. If it’s not a place you want to come back to, it’s not the place for you.” That message kind of stuck with me the whole time because I had been to Memphis, I had been to Arkansas, I had been to a lot of colleges, but Auburn kind of seemed like a home away from home. The family atmosphere, them showing the love and support that they did – it just got me riled up to come here. And now I’m so glad I made that decision because it does feel like a home away from home. How do you think Coach Pearl and his system can help your game? Moore: He’s all about mismatches. What I’ve been told is that I can be a mismatch problem if I put in the right work and keep a good sense about my body. But he loves to find mismatches. He loves to play fast. He chooses guys that are going to give 110 percent for 30-40 minutes. 15 A UTLIVE The Bruce Pearl Family Foundation is once again continuing the fight against cancer with the sixth year of AUTLIVE, Auburn basketball’s fight against cancer. The best way to beat cancer is to detect it early and be able to fight it on your home court. This year’s AUTLIVE game will take place in Auburn Arena on Saturday, February 27, 2021 vs. Tennessee. You can support the cause by purchasing a t-shirt for $25 beginning early January. AUTLIVE raises the awareness of cancer prevention and detection while t-shirt sales and donations raise money to benefit cancer patients at these locations: Russell Medical Foundation, Smile-A-Mile, Coosa Valley Medical Center, Children’s of Alabama, East Alabama Medical Center, Joy to Life, aTeam Ministries, Cancer Wellness Foundation and Russell Hill. Pearl and his coaching staff initiated the OUTLIVE program in 2009 at Tennessee in recognition of former Vol Chris Lofton, who beat testicular cancer through early diagnosis and local #ThinkSunSouth WHETHER YOU’RE CUTTING, MOWING, MULCHING, TILLING, LOADING, DIGGING, PLANTING, HAULING OR OFF-ROADING... QUALITY JOHN DEERE EQUIPMENT, AFFORDABLY PRICED. 21 LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHEAST. >> FIND YOURS << SUNSOUTH.COMNext >