BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Milwaukee Panthers take on the Villanova Wildcats tonight in the second round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Among both rosters, there is not a more grateful player tonight than Milwaukee forward Malcolm Moore, who is in his last year of eligibility after sustaining multiple knee injuries over the last 3 years.
A graduate student at Milwaukee studying liberal arts, Moore started his college basketball career at Tyler Junior college in Tyler, Texas before transferring to the University of Texas at El Paso, where he played under Tim Floyd and earned a multi-disciplinary bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, communications and liberal arts. He chose to come to Milwaukee to pursue a graduate degree and to play his last year of eligibility closer to his family’s home in Iowa City. He wanted his parents Anthony and Jeanette to be able to come see him play, as well as his brother Jarel, sister Deah, and as Malcolm said, “The little man I love,” his three year old nephew Parker.
Moore tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and his medial collateral ligament (MCL), in his knee during practice when he was playing with UTEP just before the redshirt deadline his junior year. After undergoing knee surgery in 2012 Moore said, “Not being able to play after injury was one of the worst times in my life. It was hard for me to sit out after being in love with the game for so long. This was one of the darkest times of my life because I wasn’t sure if my knee was going to recover and I was questioning if I was ever going to be able to play again.”
The recovery process was lengthy, but Moore realized that, “staying positive and talking to my teammates, roommates and everybody who cared about me to reinforce that I would get better was crucial to the process.”
He credits Milwaukee trainer Brandon Wells for keeping him healthy this season. Moore said, “I’m really thankful for him. He really helped me out this year and he’s the reason I’ve been able to play so much this year.”
Moore is extremely passionate about the game of basketball and hopes to continue to play after he earns his graduate degree. Although he’s never been as happy as he is in Milwaukee. “I couldn’t pick a better group of guys to be with for my last college season. The coaching staff, the trainers, the managers and the players. I get along with everybody and I have a lot of love for everybody on the team. I’ve made more than 18 other teammates, I’ve made 18 other brothers since I got here. That’s what makes this season really special for me. I love every one of my guys and I’ll fight for them every night,” said Moore.
The Panthers will definitely be fighting for each other tonight, so they can defeat the Wildcats and advance to the next round of the NCAA tournament. Looking ahead to tonight’s game Moore said, “I just want to compete and help the team to go as far as they can in the tournament. I want to keep earning respect for Milwaukee’s basketball program and keep having fun with my teammates for as long as we can keep it rolling.”
