HAMPTON – Virginia Peninsula Community College announced Monday it named men’s basketball coach Chris Moore as its new Director of Athletics and Student Activities.
Moore, who attended the former Thomas Nelson Community College from 2008-10, has been the men’s basketball coach at the college since 2018. He led the Gators to a 16-1 record and their first conference title since 2015 in the 2021-22 season, and he will continue to coach the men’s basketball program in his new role, according to a press release.
He takes over from Angela Jackson, the former Gators men’s and women’s basketball coach who had served as interim athletics director.
“I’m excited,” said Moore, who takes on the new position on July 25. “I’m big on community and I have a passion for the college, being that I went there.”
Those were qualities President Dr. Towuanna Porter Brannon highlighted.
“Mr. Moore’s passion for developing athletic scholars is apparent by the ways he coached and mentored our men’s basketball team players,” she said. “In addition to his role in athletics, Mr. Moore has been a collaborative leader — supporting the college’s enrollment, fundraising, community engagement, and marketing initiatives. We look forward to expanding our athletics and student activities programming under his leadership.”
In April, the college announced an ambitious plan to add six sports in the next three years, something that attracted Moore to the position.
“I think the president’s vision of it all is evident,” he said, adding he wants to help “propel athletics in the right direction.”
Moore’s priority will be the addition of softball and women’s volleyball programs for the 2022-23 academic year.
“My first task is trying to get some coaches that can come in here and continue what the rest of us have done this past year, which is win,” he said. “But also bring in some quality student-athletes.”
The college currently fields three intercollegiate teams — baseball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. It is in the process of examining which sports teams to add after the 2022-23 year. Possibilities include soccer, track and field, and cross country.
Moore is a graduate of Warwick High School, where he played basketball. He also attended Virginia Wesleyan College and Chowan University.
Before joining the college as the men’s basketball coach, he was the director of basketball operations at Longwood University (2017-18) and a graduate assistant basketball coach at Mount St. Mary’s University (2016-17).
He also has experience as an assistant high school basketball coach, an AAU basketball coach and coaching at numerous basketball and football camps and clinics. His father, the late Ben Moore, coached basketball for nearly 30 years in the Peninsula District.
