Charles Moir
Charles Robert Moir[1] (November 29, 1930 – November 14, 2019) was an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball team from 1976 until his resignation in October 1987. During his 11 seasons at Virginia Tech, Moir's Hokies compiled a 213–119 record. He was forced to resign after the discovery of severe NCAA violations. Including his time at Tech and coaching stints in high school and at Roanoke College and Tulane University, Moir compiled a career record of 616–238 in his 31 seasons as a high school and college head coach.
Moir in 1987 as coach of Virginia Tech | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 29, 1930 Francisco, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | November 14, 2019 (aged 88) Salem, Virginia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1949–1951 | Appalachian State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1963–1967 | Virginia Tech (assistant) |
| 1967–1973 | Roanoke |
| 1973–1976 | Tulane |
| 1976–1987 | Virginia Tech |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 616–238 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| NCAA Division II tournament (1972) Metro tournament (1979) | |
He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame (the state-wide organization that honors sports figures who were either from Virginia, or contributed to teams from the state) in 2000.
College Athlete edit
Moir was a basketball and baseball athlete at Appalachian State University. Following his college career, Moir played Minor League Baseball with the Cincinnati Reds organization.[2]
College Coach edit
After three years in baseball, Moir moved on to coach high school basketball, coaching for eleven years in Stuart, Virginia, Jefferson, North Carolina, and Mount Airy, North Carolina and finishing with a career record of 224–43.[3]
In 1963, Moir joined the Virginia Tech basketball coaching staff as an assistant. After coaching under Bill Matthews and Howard Shannon for four seasons, Moir moved on to Roanoke College where he compiled a 133–44 record in his six years, winning the NCAA College Division (now called Division II) national championship in 1972.
Moir's first recruit at Roanoke was Frankie Allen, the first African American basketball player in school history, who would eventually follow Moir as the head coach of Virginia Tech and become Virginia Tech's first African American head coach.[4]
Moir left Roanoke for Tulane University in 1973, where he earned a 46–33 record. After three years in New Orleans, he returned to the Hokies and Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech edit
Moir became the head coach in 1976, replacing Don DeVoe, who had moved on to Wyoming.[5] In Moir's first season, the Hokies earned a bid to the NIT, but fell in the second round to #12 Alabama. In Moir's third season as coach, the Hokies, who had been independent since leaving the Southern Conference some 13 years earlier, joined the upstart Metro Conference. Tech stunned tournament favorite #13 Louisville in the conference semi-finals and went on to defeat Florida State for the conference championship.
Following Moir's lone losing season with the Hokies (1986–1987), a report presented by Mike Glazier and Michael Slive detailed 12 NCAA violations in Moir's program. The report found that, "in reviewing the academic records of basketball athletes, it is evident that most are not serious students." Most seriously, none of Moir's recruits from 1981 to 1986—essentially, what would be his last five recruiting classes—graduated.[6] The most serious were that a player had falsely been given credit for a course he did not take and the wife of another player was given a personal car loan. Moir himself was cleared of any wrongdoing, but was forced to resign.[7] Moir's ouster completed a difficult year for the Hokie program; athletics director and football coach Bill Dooley had been pushed out earlier that year. In October, Virginia Tech's football and basketball programs were placed on two years' probation, and the basketball team was banned from postseason play until the 1989–90 season. Virginia Tech was placed in the unenviable position of having both football and basketball on NCAA probation.[8]
During his time at Tech, Moir led the Hokies to four NCAA tournament appearances and four NIT appearances. With a record of 213–119, Moir remains Tech's winningest basketball coach of all time and was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Personal edit
Moir's son, Page Moir, was the head men's basketball coach at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia from 1989–2016.[9] The younger Moir played for his father as a walk-on at Virginia Tech in the 1980s. Charles Moir died on November 14, 2019, at age 88 of congestive heart failure.[10]
Head coaching record edit
College edit
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke Maroons (Mason–Dixon Conference) (1967–1973) | |||||||||
| 1967–68 | Roanoke | 22–8 | 11–3 | 1st | NCAA College Division Regional Fourth Place | ||||
| 1968–69 | Roanoke | 17–10 | 12–2 | ||||||
| 1969–70 | Roanoke | 20–8 | 8–6 | ||||||
| 1970–71 | Roanoke | 23–8 | 12–1 | NCAA College Division Regional Fourth Place | |||||
| 1971–72 | Roanoke | 28–4 | 9–2 | NCAA College Division champion | |||||
| 1972–73 | Roanoke | 23–6 | 10–2 | NCAA College Division Quarterfinal | |||||
| Roanoke: | 133–44 | 62–16 | |||||||
| Tulane Green Wave (NCAA Division I independent) (1973–1976) | |||||||||
| 1973–74 | Tulane | 12–14 | |||||||
| 1974–75 | Tulane | 16–10 | |||||||
| 1975–76 | Tulane | 18–9 | |||||||
| Tulane: | 46–33 | ||||||||
| Virginia Tech Gobblers (NCAA Division I independent) (1976–1978) | |||||||||
| 1976–77 | Virginia Tech | 19–10 | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||||
| 1977–78 | Virginia Tech | 19–8 | |||||||
| Virginia Tech Gobblers/Hokies (Metro Conference) (1978–1987) | |||||||||
| 1978–79 | Virginia Tech | 22–9 | 4–6 | T–4th | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| 1979–80 | Virginia Tech | 21–8 | 8–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| 1980–81 | Virginia Tech | 15–13 | 6–6 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1981–82 | Virginia Tech | 20–11 | 7–5 | 4th | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||
| 1982–83 | Virginia Tech | 23–11 | 7–5 | T–2nd | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 1983–84 | Virginia Tech | 22–13 | 8–6 | 4th | NIT Semifinal | ||||
| 1984–85 | Virginia Tech | 20–9 | 10–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1985–86 | Virginia Tech | 22–9 | 7–5 | 3rd | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1986–87 | Virginia Tech | 10–18 | 5–7 | T–5th | |||||
| Virginia Tech: | 213–119 | 62–48 | |||||||
| Total: | 392–196 | ||||||||
| National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
References edit
- ^ "Charles Robert Moir obituary". johnmokey.com. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- ^ . Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2008.
- ^ Strother, Warren H.; Wallenstein, Peter (2004). From VPI to State University: President T. Marshall Hahn Jr. and the Transformation of Virginia Tech 1962 – 1974. Mercer University Press. pp. 138. ISBN 0-86554-787-4.
- ^ Berrier, Ralph. "Being a First was Secondary to Being a Star". Roanoke Times.
- ^ "Charlie Moir replaces DeVoe". Wilmington Morning Star. March 16, 1976. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE; 'NOT SERIOUS STUDENTS'". New York Times. July 3, 1987. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
- ^ Stewart, Will (August 22, 2005). "The Year of Our Discontent: Conclusion". techsideline.com. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
- ^ "Virginia Tech Hit by Sanctions". New York Times. Associated Press. October 27, 1987. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
- ^ King, Randy (March 22, 2016). "Page Moir stepping down at Roanoke College". Roanoke Times. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- ^ Former Roanoke College and Virginia Tech coach Charlie Moir dies