Virginia Peninsula Community College men’s basketball coach Chris Moore has been recognized often since his team’s record-setting season ended six months ago. The Peninsula Sports Club, however, honored him Sept. 28, not for one season but for his numerous years as a basketball coach, many of those with the Gators.
Moore, who also has been the College’s athletics director since July 2022, called receiving the Horace Underwood Milestone Award a “full-circle” moment.
“One of the last conversations I had with my dad, he was telling me he was getting the same award,” Moore said.
Ben Moore, a longtime area high school boys basketball coach, passed away Dec. 9, 2017. The Peninsula Sports Club honored him in spring 2018, about six months before Chris was named men’s basketball coach at VPCC.
In seven seasons as the men’s basketball coach (one season was canceled because of covid) at VPCC, Moore has an overall record of 101-64 (.612 winning percentage).
He is coming off the most successful season in VPCC history. The Gators went 22-7 (a school record for wins) and won the NJCAA Division III Region 10 regular-season and tournament titles. They lost in double overtime in the District 10 tournament final, falling one win short of making the 12-team national tournament. The Gators were ranked No.11 in the final NJCAA national poll of the regular season and Moore was the Region 10 coach of the year.
He never planned to be a coach.
“Growing up, watching my dad coach, it wasn’t something I wanted to do,” he said. “It just happened … and I found myself.”
He recalls his first game on the sideline. He was 17 years old and coaching in the Futures League at Warwick High School.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.
But looking back, he realizes he was always in a position to teach, from Sunday school when he was 13 or 14 to being a basketball camp counselor to holding mentoring roles throughout his life.
“I’ve worked in different spaces that allowed me to give back and serve others,” he said. “So, for me, coaching is that: A space to teach. A space to give back. But also pour into the next generation.”
Moore’s college coaching journey began in 2016 at Mount St. Mary’s University as a graduate assistant coach. The Mountaineers won the Northeast Conference regular season and postseason titles and made the NCAA tournament. The following year, Moore was a graduate assistant at Longwood University, where he was the director of basketball operations. He also has coached at Massanutten Military Academy, Team Loaded AAU, and multiple high schools throughout the state.
He has trained and coached several professional athletes, including Mark Williams (Charlotte Hornets), Cam Thomas (Brooklyn Nets), and Isaiah Todd (Washington Wizards).
Moore is a native of Newport News, having graduated from Warwick High School, where the basketball court is named after his father. He attended VPCC and earned his bachelor’s in health and physical education with a minor in coaching from Chowan University.
Also honored Monday night were Richard Van Dyke, a football coach for 37 years, and Doug Mitchell, who has coached baseball for 40 years. The Mitchells and Moores are thought to be the only father-son duos to receive the Peninsula Sports Club’s Milestone awards. Doug Mitchell’s father, Danny, was a longtime baseball coach and assistant football coach at Hampton High School.
For more on Gators athletics, go to www.vpccgators.com.
