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Aug. 23, 2010

Below is a transcript of quotes from new UIC head men's basketball coach Howard Moore's introductory press conference at the UIC Pavilion on Monday, August 23, 2010.

UIC Director of Athletics Jim Schmidt:
"When we started this search we really knew that this was a great job because of the fine work of Coach [Jimmy] Collins and his staff and all the former players over time, this really became a positive thing. We heard from people in the basketball community nationally what a great job this is.

With the high academics at UIC, the fine basketball facilities starting with the UIC Pavilion, and the beautiful city of Chicago, we knew this job was something really special.

In the end we were looking for someone with great integrity, Chicago roots, passion for the game, tremendous energy and the ability to inspire young people. We found all of those traits in Coach Moore.

Howard Moore was a winner in life long before he came to UIC. He quickly established himself as one of the hardest working young assistants in the college game and he learned from some of the most respected minds in coaching, most notably Bo Ryan at Wisconsin.

Howard has proven himself as an intelligent strategist and a highly respected recruiter. He brings integrity, class and a vision for winning championships. Howard's a Bears fan and we're extremely happy that we're able to get him out of Packerland and back home where he belongs in Chicago."

New UIC Head Men's Basketball Coach Howard Moore:
"This is indeed a very humbling, but very special, moment in my life. I want to thank everyone here for the love and support from the bottom of my heart. I'm going through a very emotional moment right now because a lot of people believed in Howard Moore. It means a lot to me to come home. This is a tremendous situation and a tremendous opportunity. The reason I'm emotional is because this is not about Howard Moore. This is about family and people who have put me in this position. I'm extremely proud to call myself a Chicagoan, to call myself a coach, and to call myself a teacher and that I can affect the lives of young men.

We're going to get this thing going again. My goal as the head coach at UIC is to do two things first and foremost. We're going to get this thing back to the top of the league, we're going to win championships, and we're going to get young men to earn their degrees.

If you haven't seen it already, this is my dream job. This is an opportunity for me to come home and make an impact. Not just roll out the basketballs and blow the whistle and get out there with the guys, but we can impact so many lives, positively, through this situation and this opportunity. I take this with a great deal of pride and I take this as a big responsibility and I own up to that responsibility fully.

This program will be the class of the city of Chicago and of the state of Illinois and we're going to take that seed that Jimmy Collins has planted and that other people have planted and we're going to grow it into something very special that the people of Chicago will be extremely proud of. We're going to grow young men to be responsible husbands and fathers and men of the community. We're going to develop student-athletes to grow and develop to reach their potential in every aspect of life. We're going to win on the basketball court, we're going to win in the classroom, we're going to win in the community and we're going to win on the campus.

Our players will be the epitome of championship-caliber young men. You have my pledge that I will give you every ounce of energy that I have to make sure that this program is a class program that will go above and beyond just being about basketball, but a program of pride, dignity and excellence. You have my vow on that.

All the UIC alums, the people who have been involved in this program in the past, the people who have maybe walked away and forgotten what it's like to be a Flame, I encourage you to come back and get involved, get invigorated about what we're trying to get accomplished and please get attached. Because when we fire the Flames back up it's going to get hot!

I don't want to get too emotional and too tied up in the moment because there's a lot of work to be done, but let me close with saying this: this is a job that's going to take more than just me. It's going to take me having the ability and the confidence in myself to allow others to help me and get this program where we all want it to be.

We're going to work our hardest; we'll be dedicated and disciplined. We're going to do it the right way."

UIC Flames Men's Basketball

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