Apollo-Ridge grad Maddy Moore prepared to help young Seton Hill women's basketball team in any way necessary

On the Seton Hill women’s basketball roster, Maddy Moore is listed as a senior, but the Apollo-Ridge grad feels like she’s just getting started.

After appearing in a handful of games as a freshman, Moore’s sophomore season was washed away when the covid-19 pandemic halted all PSAC winter sports. Last season, Moore was contributing regularly, playing about nine minutes a game and averaging 3.5 points, until she suffered a torn plantar fascia.

That brought her junior season to a halt in early January.

Now, with just 26 games of college experience under her belt, the 6-foot guard/forward is getting ready for her finale. Moore has a “bonus” covid year at her disposal, but she won’t be using it. Instead, she will be heading to grad school at Logan University in Missouri to complete her chiropractic studies.

No one would blame Moore if she was frustrated. Her college basketball career is ending almost before it got started. That, however, is not how Moore has reacted.

She said she is happy with whatever contributions she has been able to make, and she will continue to do that this season.

“I always tell coach I will do whatever the team needs of me,” she said. “I think what I do best is just being a role player and doing the small things well that people need of me so that other people can shine.

“Whether that’s making the extra pass, shooting an open shot if I have it, just doing those small things, especially defensively … just doing those small things and working as hard as I can when I’m out there.”

A player who sacrifices her own stats so others can thrive? For coach Mark Katarski, that selfless attitude is part of what makes Moore the quintessential student-athlete.

“Maddy is someone who is very consistent,” said Katarski, in his 10th season at Seton Hill. “She’s going to come to practice. She’s going to be engaged. She’s going to try her best. She also does a really good job, as well as anybody on our team, that she’s been able to be Maddy the student. She’s able to be a player, Maddy the teammate. And she has friends beyond basketball.

“She does a good job of leading by example that you can be involved in different ways. … She’s really found a way to balance the full experience, which is hard.”

Having Moore set an example will be especially critical this season. The Griffins graduated eight seniors, including all five starters, from a 21-win team.

The 2022-23 roster includes only five players with game experience in a Seton Hill uniform, including last season’s PSAC West Rookie of the Year, Christiane Frye. Then there are 11 freshmen or redshirt freshmen and two transfers.

“Knowing that a younger group of girls were coming in, I really wanted to work on just my leadership qualities and making sure I was communicating,” Moore said. “Even before they came in, I was making sure to get ahold of them, make sure they were feeling comfortable.”

Basketball-wise, Moore said she focused on making sure her injured foot was healthy. Katarski said what he will expect from her is no different than what she has done in the past: be willing and able when her number is called.

Even if her job is just to shout encouragement from the bench, Moore is fine with it. She will hang up her high-tops at the end of the season having perfect peace with her role in the program.

“That’s kind of always been my thing since I’ve been here,” she said. “I am a team player, so I will just do whatever the team needs.

“I think we’ll be really good in the future. Not saying that we won’t be good this year. I think we have a lot of potential. … I just want us to be able to grow and, honestly, just over the time being, I want us to connect more as a team. If we win, we win. If not, I think it will just prepare us for the future. Whether I am here or not.”