Former UCLA Women's Basketball Coach Billie Moore Dies at 79

The legendary coach led the Bruins to their only national championship in 1978 and oversaw the team's transition to the NCAA.

The UCLA and women's basketball communities have lost one of the sport's most legendary figures.

Former UCLA women's basketball coach Billie Moore died surrounded by her friends and family at the age of 79 on Wednesday. Moore led the Bruins to their first and only national championship in 1978.

UCLA was competing in the AIAW at the time, before the NCAA sponsored women's sports. Moore oversaw the Bruins' eventual transition to the NCAA level, solidifying herself not only as a pioneer for the program, but for the sport and women's athletics as a whole.

Moore was an assistant coach on the United States' first-ever Olympic women's basketball team at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, developing players such as Pat Summitt, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Nancy Lieberman.

"Billie Moore has had more influence on my coaching career than anyone," Summitt was quoted as saying before her death in 2016. "She was my mentor. She's had a huge impact on my coaching style."

Moore, who had already won the 1970 national championship at Cal State Fullerton, then took over in Westwood in 1977 and guided UCLA to a title her very first year.

The Bruins made two NCAA Sweet 16s and racked up 296 victories from 1977 to 1993 under Moore, making her the winningest coach in program history. Moore had a .690 winning percentage for her career, and in 1991, she became the eighth Division I women's basketball coach to reach 400 career wins.

Moore was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 before making the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. Meyers Drysdale, Denise Curry, Anita Ortega, Rehema Stephens, Natalie Williams are among the Bruin legends who played under Moore.

Coach Cori Close may not have been Moore's direct successor – with 18 seasons and two other coaches separating their tenures – but she is within striking distance of breaking some of her school records. As Close put it, though, she would not be where she is today without Moore's direct and indirect guidance.

"It is hard to put into the words the depth of Billie Moore's impact," Close said in a statement. "I am keenly aware that I get to walk on the trail that Billie Moore blazed. A truly remarkable life well lived."

Moore, who finished with a 436-196 record as a collegiate head coach, got her start before Title IX was signed into law. 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking civil rights law, which UCLA Athletics has been celebrating all year.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA women's basketball stories: UCLA Women's Basketball on Sports Illustrated

PHOTO COURTESY OF UCLA ATHLETICS