Former WNBA Player Tamara Moore Hired as Men's HC at Mesabi Range College

Newly hired men's basketball coach Tamara Moore is ready to make her mark at Mesabi Range College, a junior college where she will also serve as the head softball coach. Moore is the only current female head coach of a men's collegiate program in the country.

"Now, it's time for me to show you guys and show people that women are just as knowledgeable as men to coach the game," Moore said, per ESPN's Myron Medcalf.

Moore played in the WNBA for six seasons, averaging 4.4 points and 1.8 assists while splitting time between the Miami Sol, Minnesota Lynx, Detroit Shock, Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Los Angeles Sparks and Houston Comets.

"We're excited to see what Coach Moore can do at Mesabi Range," said Tristan Spears, spokesman for the National Junior College Athletic Association, according to ESPN.

Before being hired at Mesabi Range College, Moore was the head girls' basketball coach at Edison High School in Minneapolis. She played collegiately at Wisconsin for four years, averaging 13.4 points, 4.5 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. She earned two first-team All-Big Ten selections, and was named the Big Ten defensive player of the year in 2001. Miami selected her with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2002 draft.

Moore is not the first woman to coach a men's college basketball team. Kerri Ann McTiernan was the head men's basketball coach at Kingsborough Community College in New York City, where she also worked as the athletic director. She led the team to a conference championship in 2000. No woman has ever been the head coach of a Division I men's basketball program, though Moore hopes that will change in the near future.

"I'm honored to coach on any level," she told ESPN. "The ultimate goal for me is to be a Division I coach. I've never been doubted about my coaching ability. I just think it's all about opportunity. The message, with my hiring, is that the ceiling is now broken, and let's just take it even further."