TERRE HAUTE —
Teri Moren is the sixth Indiana State head coach for women’s basketball, ISU Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman announced Friday.
Moren, reached Friday as she prepared to travel to San Antonio for the Final Four, is ready to get to work for the Sycamores.
She has had the chance to coach in the NCAA Tournament the last three years as associate head coach for Georgia Teach, and she hopes to do the same at ISU.
“Most of us coaches aren’t very patient people. I anticipate winning quickly, and that’s because I know the makeup of the team and the things they’ve been able to accomplish,” Moren said. “I have no reason to believe we won’t get a system in place that they’ll enjoy playing in.”
Moren received a phone call from Prettyman on Friday morning.
“It was a very, very exciting phone call, one that I’d hoped for,” Moren said. “It caught me a little bit off guard. We anticipated [word on the hire] Wednesday or next Friday.”
Moren was one of four finalists interviewed for the job, which became vacant when Jim Wiedie was suspended for the remainder of the season in February and ultimately resigned his post.
The fourth finalist, Randy Norton, withdrew his name for consideration during a conversation with Prettyman on Thursday night. Norton’s public forum was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Prettyman indicated Norton’s decision had to do with not wanting to uproot his family from the Bloomington-Normal (Ill.) area. Norton has been serving as associate head coach at Illinois State.
“He really enjoys being at Illinois State,” Prettyman said.
Moren said Friday that ISU associate head coach Clint Weddle would remain in that role on her staff. Moren hired Weddle prior to her final year as head coach at the University of Indianapolis.
“He’s an associate head coach and I wouldn’t take that away from him. It’s something I would have done naturally if he wasn’t in that role already,” Moren said.
Weddle, who was a finalist for the head coaching job, expressed his happiness for Moren and ISU for getting a coach of Moren’s caliber.
“I look forward to being a part of the program and I’m excited for our players and the future of Indiana State basketball,” Weddle said. “I know Indiana State has a terrific leader, terrific person and an outstanding coach.
“Indiana State has been a first-class university. I’m excited they’ve hired a great individual to be the leader of the program.”
Moren plans to meet with ISU assistant coaches Melanie Boeglin and Cammie Campbell when she returns to Terre Haute early in the week. Boeglin and Campbell are attending the Final Four in San Antonio this weekend.
After seven years as head coach at Indianapolis, Moren became an assistant at Georgia Tech, where she’s worked for former Purdue teammate MaChelle Joseph.
“I made that move because I wanted to become a better basketball coach,” she said. “Game-planning for games against the Dukes, Florida States and the UConns of our world you can only become a better basketball coach. It’s been a tremendous ride. That was just another stepping stone for me.”
Moren now joins two former Purdue teammates as Division I head coaches, Joseph and Toledo coach Tricia Cullop, who previously coached at Evansville.
“She will have the Sycamores climbing to the top of the MVC and challenging for the post-season soon,” Cullop said in an ISU news release. “She possesses a tremendous work ethic, is a relentless recruiter and has a great passion for the game. She knows how to win and will lead the Indiana State program with class.”
“Teri’s heart is in the Hoosier state and she will be relentless in her pursuit to lead ISU to unprecedented success,” Joseph said.
ISU’s players had the chance to meet with Moren as a group in addition to the public candidate forum.
“I really don’t know much about her, but judging from the forum she seems like she knows exactly what she’s doing. I’m excited to see what she has in store for us,” ISU sophomore Deja Mattox said Friday.
Moren played point guard for Purdue and coach Lin Dunn, helping lead the Boilermakers to a Big Ten title in 1991.
“In my experience playing at Purdue is very similar to what the women’s basketball team at Indiana State is experiencing,” Moren said. “That community came out to support us night in and night out. The sixth man factor does ring true.”
ISU led the Missouri Valley Conference in attendance in the 2009-10 season, averaging 4,172 fans, and has ranked among the top 40 in the nation since early in Wiedie’s tenure.
“They deserve those people being in the stands. It’s not all that surprising. I know how crazy the Hoosiers are about basketball. We have some educated basketball junkies out there. I love that,” said Moren, who was an Indiana All-Star for Seymour and Hall of Fame coach Donna Sullivan. “I hope that we’ll make it so exciting we’ll increase that attendance each year.”
As an Indiana native with extensive coaching experience in the state — she served as a Butler assistant in her first college coaching job before taking a job at Northwestern — Moren identified recruiting as one of her biggest strengths.
That was a big part of her appeal to Prettyman.
“She’s so well networked in the state and has great recruiting ties, as well as the places she’s been in the Big Ten and the Horizon League and the ACC now, I think she’ll give us some opportunities from a recruiting standpoint,” Prettyman said.
Moren is excited about ISU’s nationally ranked recruiting class, and she looks forward to expanding on that role, although the Sycamores will only have one senior to replace after the 2010-11 season. Forward Kelsie Cooley will be joined by a large group of juniors and sophomores.
“Being a head coach and having already had that experience, I think recruiting is a strength,” Moren said. “And in-game preparation. Our kids will always be the most prepared team. That will be a goal.
“My ability to communicate with our players and make them better basketball players, player development, that’s something I look forward to.”
As for style of play, Moren said she will first evaluate the personnel and “we’ll play to our strengths to begin with. I’m pretty defense oriented. You can give yourself a chance to win close games.
“One of the things I’ll go back to, you look at all the teams that are advancing in the tournament are great defensive teams with a tremendous point guard and an inside presence. That’s two of the things we’ll have to have.”
Moren is excited about ISU’s returning players, who finished the season by going 6-4 in their last 10 games after Wiedie was suspended.
“I commended what they did at the end of the year … Winning those games is a testament to their character,” said Moren, who hopes to have everyone currently on scholarship back next season.
“At this point, I don’t have those concerns. Certainly when I get there, when we talk about moving forward, I’m hoping that doesn’t happen,” Moren said. “Sometimes change is a difficult thing. We’ll have to cross that road when it comes.”
A news conference to introduce Moren will take place early next week.
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