JOURNAL SPORTS
With a Tuesday press release, Bossier Parish Community College finally confirmed the Aug. 5 Shreveport-Bossier Journal report that Jeff Moore, a coaching veteran with ties across the state of Louisiana, has begun his 32nd year in college coaching as the Cavaliers’ new head basketball coach.
Moore, 53, left the LSU staff as recruiting coordinator and took over at BPCC as August began. He immediately began plugging gaps in the BPCC roster for 2025-26 and has resided locally all month long.
The former longtime Northwestern State assistant, who was associate head coach of the Demons in the last few seasons of Mike McConathy’s 23 years at NSU, was briefly a BPCC assistant coach two decades ago. He fills the void created by the departure of J.A. Anglin, who moved across the Red River in July after five seasons with the Cavaliers and took over the NCAA Division III program at Centenary.
During the 2005-06 season, Moore’s previous stint at Bossier Parish came as the Cavaliers captured both the Miss Lou Conference title and tournament championship and earned a berth in the Region 23 Tournament for the first time in five years.
In the last three years at LSU under coach Matt McMahon, Moore helped the Tigers land several Top 20 high school recruiting classes and multiple Top 20 transfer portal classes. Moore’s responsibilities included evaluating and identifying recruits as early as their freshman year, scouting opponents, building alumni relations, mentoring student-athletes, coordinating official and unofficial recruiting visits, overseeing game scheduling, and directing summer camps.
Before joining LSU in 2022, Moore spent 16 seasons at Northwestern under Bossier City native McConathy, the founder of BPCC’s basketball program. As associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for McConathy, Moore was instrumental in signing many standout players including back-to-back Southland Conference Freshmen of the Year Jalan West (Bossier HS, 2013) and Zeek Woodley (Pelican All-Saints HS, 2014); 2013 Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year DeQuan Hicks; and Shreveport native Shamir Davis, the 2013 Southland Tournament MVP. He also recruited William Mosley of Shreveport, who led NCAA Division I in blocks per game in 2011 and ranks fifth all-time in NCAA history in career blocks before embarking on a successful professional career in Europe.
Three of Moore’s signees went on to become career scoring leaders at their programs: Woodley (Northwestern), Koby Achane (Missouri Valley College), and Ronnie Ross (John Wood Community College). West set the career assists record at NSU.
Moore’s teaching and recruiting ability helped the Demons earn a 14-seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament after winning the Southland Tournament championship. That 2012-13 team’s 23 victories remain the second-most in program history. From 2012-15, NSU won 59 games, led the nation in scoring in 2014-15, and ranked second nationally the previous two seasons.
Moore has long been committed to student-athlete success off the court. Since his arrival at NSU, 90 percent of Demons players earned their degrees. The program posted a perfect 1000 APR score in four seasons (2010, 2011, 2013, 2016) and was nationally recognized by the NCAA in 2014 for ranking in the top 10 percent in Division I. NSU also led all conference and state public institutions in NCAA Graduation Success Rate with a 98 percent score.
Prior to his time in Natchitoches, Moore served as head coach and athletic director at John Wood Community College (Ill.) from 1997-2002, leading the program to a regional semifinal appearance in 2001. He later coached at Tyler Junior College (2002-05), where he helped develop multiple Top 10 junior college prospects. Over his career, Moore has coached more than 100 players from Louisiana. Former players include Trey Gilder, who played with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies and was an NBA D-League All-Star, and Nikos Chougkaz, who represented Greece in the 2024 Olympics.
Overall, Moore has coached eight players who went on to compete in the NBA G League. His father, the late Wilbert C. “Nooky” Moore, coached for 33 seasons at the high school and college levels, including a stint as an assistant at McNeese. In 2019, Moore’s alma mater, Lake Arthur High School, honored him by naming its basketball court “Jeff Moore Court.” His No. 34 jersey is the only jersey retired at Lake Arthur, where the gymnasium is named after his father.