Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- wes_moore@ncsu.edu
- Phone:
- (919) 515-2880
- Head coaching record: 859-264 (.765)
- NC State record: 301-95 (.760)
- Completed seasons: 36
- Winning seasons: 35
- Postseason appearances: 30
- 20-win seasons: 31
- 25-win seasons: 16
- Coach of the Year honors: 15
- ACC Coach of the Year honors: 4
- 2021 WBCA National Coach of the Year
- 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year Runner-Up
One of the top head coaches in NCAA women’s basketball, Wes Moore has completed 12 seasons as NC State’s head coach. The 12 seasons of the Moore era have been among the best in the 51 years of women’s basketball at NC State.
Since taking over the Wolfpack on April 5, 2013, Moore has posted a 301-95 (.760) record and has led NC State to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, as well as postseason invitations each year. His eight straight tournament appearances broke a school record for the longest streak of NCAA Tournament appearances. He has guided the Pack to a 144-56 (.720) clip in the ACC, a league that consistently ranks among the top conferences in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Nine of Moore’s 12 seasons have concluded in top-four finishes in the league. All 12 of his seasons in Raleigh have been winning campaigns and 11 have included 20+ victories. The head of the helm is coming off having guided his team to its sixth Sweet 16 appearance in the past seven tournaments (2018, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25).
Moore guided NC State to three-straight ACC Tournament titles, becoming the first head coach of the program to do so. The team’s win in 2020 was its first conference tournament championship since 1991, and the team repeated in 2021 and 2022.
The NC State program continued to elevate in 2024-25 under Coach Moore's leadership. After starting out the season 4-3, NC State finished the remainder of the season 24-4 with a 16-2 ACC mark to share the 2025 ACC Regular Season Championship. Coach Moore was awarded ACC Coach of the Year, his fourth such honor and 15th overall, and made his fifth appearance in the ACC Tournament Championship game as the head of the helm. NC State hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last six tournaments schools could serve as host sites, dancing their way to wins over Vermont and Michigan State to earn his sixth Sweet 16 berth in the past seven tournaments. NC State's NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025 marked the eighth straight berth for the Pack, which set a new school record.
During the 2024-25 season, the Pack picked up six ranked wins, including over No. 1/1 Notre Dame on College GameDay for Coach Moore's third win over a No. 1 opponent, fifth in school history. NC State finished a perfect 18-0 at home at Reynolds Coliseum, which featured 15 sellouts. The Pack finished the season ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press Poll, marking the sixth time a Coach Moore team has finished the season ranked inside the top 10.
NC State was well-represented by the ACC in all-conference awards. The Pack had three representatives on the All-ACC First Team with two-time recipients Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers and first-time honoree Zoe Brooks, who also became the first ACC Most Improved Player in school history. Tilda Trygger was also tabbed to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
The 2024-25 squad sported one of the best senior classes in school history. The trio of Rivers, James and Madison Hayes were pivotal in the Pack's success, being two-year regular starters, and all having averaged double-digits in scoring in back-to-back seasons. At the 2025 WNBA Draft, Rivers and James made history, becoming the first time NC State has had two players drafted in the first round, with Rivers being picked No. 8 by the Connecticut Sun and James wrapping up the first round as the No. 12 pick by the Dallas Wings. Rivers also became the highest drafted Wolfpack player in school history. Hayes was invited to training camp for the Connecticut Sun, playing in two preseason games.
Unranked at the beginning of the 2023-24 season, Coach Moore led the squad to the NCAA Final Four. The team was one of seven in NCAA history to start the season unranked in the AP Top 25 and reach a Final Four in the same season (the NC State 1998 team is included in that seven). NC State hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Championship, as well as defeated No. 2 seed Stanford and No. 1 seed Texas to be crowned the Portland 4 Regional Champion.
NC State's 2023-24 squad finished with a No. 4 national ranking and was ranked in the top 10 for majority of the season. Moore’s team earned a 31-7 overall record and logged nine wins over AP Top 25 teams to tie a single-season program record. The team was also the runner-up at the ACC Tournament.
In 2022-23, the Pack endured through one of the toughest schedules in the nation. The team’s final NET ranking was No. 17, and the squad had the second-highest opponent success rating and average opponent NET. NC State earned four wins over NET Top 25 teams, defeating No. 10 Iowa, No. 7 Notre Dame, Louisville and No. 22 North Carolina. The squad ended the 2022-23 campaign with a 20-12 record on its way to qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for a sixth season in a row.
On March 2, 2023, in the first round of the ACC Tournament, Moore earned his 800th career win. He became the fifth active, third-ever ACC and 15th NCAA Division I coach of all time to reach that mark and accomplished it in his 1,048th career game.
Moore’s 2021-22 Wolfpack squad put together one of the most historic seasons in program history that was capped off by an ACC regular season and tournament title sweep and the Pack’s first Elite Eight appearance since 1998. NC State’s league crowns marked the third time in history the team has won both the regular season and the tournament and its first time accomplishing the feat since 1984-85.
NC State went 17-1 in league action during the 2021-22 regular season, establishing a new program record for ACC wins while winning the league title for the first time since 1990. The Wolfpack went a perfect 9-0 in ACC games played at home.
In total, Moore’s 2021-22 squad posted a 32-4 record on its march to the regional final. The 32 wins set a new single-season program record, and the Pack defeated a program-record nine nationally ranked opponents amidst one of the toughest schedules in the nation. The team finished the year ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25, extending its streak of season-ending top 10 rankings to four.
In 2020-21, the Pack went 22-3 overall and 12-2 in conference play under Moore’s leadership. The team defeated two No. 1 opponents on the road during the regular season (No. 1 South Carolina on Dec. 13 and No. 1 Louisville on Feb. 1), marking the first time a women’s basketball team has accomplished that feat in the last 20 seasons. After winning the 2021 ACC Tournament, NC State earned a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The team reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the third season in a row, tying as the longest such streak for the team. During the campaign, Moore was deservedly named WBCA National Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year by his peers and was also a finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year.
Moore’s 2019-20 Wolfpack squad posted a 28-4 overall record and a 14-4 clip in ACC play. NC State finished the campaign ranked eighth in the AP Top 25 for its second top 10 final ranking in a row.
On Nov. 10, 2019, Moore earned the 700th victory of his head coaching career. At the time, it made him the 11th active and 22nd ever NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach to achieve that feat.
The 2018-19 team finished the season ranked ninth in the final USA Today Coaches Poll after spending 14 weeks ranked in the national top 10. The Wolfpack advanced to its second straight NCAA Sweet 16, achieved the longest winning streak in program history (21 games) and recorded the best start to a season in program history (21-0). At 21-0, NC State was the last remaining men’s or women’s NCAA Division I team without a loss.
In 2017-18, the Wolfpack won 26 games and returned to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007. That season, NC State posted a 16-2 record on Kay Yow Court, at the time marking the best home record in 44 completed seasons of Wolfpack basketball.
After an 18-15 campaign in 2014-15 and a 20-11 season in 2015-16, Moore guided the Pack to the NCAA Tournament second round in 2016-17 with an impressive 23-9 (12-4 ACC) record. On March 1, 2017, he was honored as ACC Coach of the Year in votes by both the league’s Blue Ribbon Panel and head coaches. It was the first such honor in the 43-year history of the NC State women’s basketball program. Moore was also named a Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year semifinalist after authoring upsets over four top 15 teams that season: No. 2 Notre Dame, at No. 6 Florida State, No. 12 Duke and at No. 9 Louisville.
Moore’s first season at NC State (2013-14) saw him lead the Pack to a 25-8 record, a fourth-place finish in the ACC standings and an NCAA Tournament appearance. For his efforts, he was named the ESPNW ACC Coach of the Year.
Before coming to Raleigh, Moore spent 15 seasons (1998-13) as the head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) where he led the Lady Mocs to 12 Southern Conference (SoCon) regular-season titles, nine SoCon tournament championships and nine NCAA Tournament berths. While at UTC, Moore became the winningest coach in program and SoCon history. He came to Raleigh as the reigning SoCon Coach of the Year, an award he earned on six separate occasions.
In the 2012-13 campaign, Moore guided the Lady Mocs to the SoCon regular season and tournament titles, equaled the best win total in school history at 29-4 and knocked off an NCAA Elite Eight Tennessee Lady Vols squad by a score of 80-71 in the regular season. The Lady Mocs posted a 19-1 conference mark that year and closed out the regular season on a 19-game winning streak to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Moore was the first coach in history to advance three different teams to the NCAA Tournament at the Division I, II and III levels.
From 1993-95, Moore served as women’s basketball assistant coach at NC State under legendary head coach Kay Yow. During that time, the Wolfpack went 34-24 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. His other head coaching stops include Maryville College (Division III) and Francis Marion (Division II). With 859 wins, he has the second most wins among active NCAA D1 coaches.
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Moore earned a bachelor’s degree from Johnson University and his master’s at Tennessee.
MOORE CAREER TIMELINE:
- 2013 – Present: NC State head coach
- 1998 – 2013: University of Tennessee Chattanooga head coach
- 1995 – 1998: Francis Marion head coach
- 1993 – 1995: NC State assistant coach
- 1987 – 1993: Maryville College head coach
