By his own admission, Ike Moore was one of those coddled 7-year-olds with a toy in one hand and a candy cane in the other.

Not that he was counting.

“You could say I’m the spoiled child,” Moore said. “I was always mama’s boy. Growing up with three girls, my mom and sisters, it was a little different. Me and mom, we’re best friends, especially this year.

“She hasn’t missed a game yet.”

Raising Ike as a single mom wasn’t part of Autumn’s master plan.

But making sure Ike Moore did things right, she didn’t miss a step.

“He’s a very thoughtful kid who’s always been very good to his mother,” Autumn Moore said. “Being raised by a mom and two older sisters, there were high expectations.

“Ike is a humble kid, which is I’ve stressed the most.”

“She’s done a really good job with Ike,” Southside coach Charlie Cooper said. “Ike’s very respectful, very well-mannered, and that’s a tribute to her.”


Moore, whose Mavericks host North Little Rock today, said gymnastics helped him grow as a young athlete. Both of his sisters, Jordan and Ali, competed in gymnastics as Moore was growing into his body.

Ike Moore, in fact, competed in floors and bars.

“We all grew up in a gymnastics gym,” Moore said. “Gymnastics really helped me with balance and muscle development. Having gymnastics, and playing other sports, that helped with my development.”

Moore’s basketball career took off with the help of another family — the one next door.

By pure chance, Autumn Moore settled in a house next door to a basketball family — the Hawleys. Seth Hawley, a sophomore at UAFS and former Maverick 3-point specialist, and older brother Jonathan played pickup games when Ike was young.

“The Hawley boys, they lived right next door to me,” Moore said. “They have a full-court, concrete basketball court in their backyard, so growing up next to them, that’s where I learned to play.”

By the time he was a sophomore, Moore was firing 3-pointers from the top of the circle at Southside Gym. He was on his way.


But first, he had to learn to pace himself. Stardom wouldn’t come easy, or quickly.

“You definitely had to earn your spot, that’s one thing,” Moore said. “You’ve got to be patient, and when you’re time comes you have to take advantage of it.

“Everybody wants to play, but not everybody is willing to put in the work.”

The Mavericks, who enter today’s 7A-Central home opener boasting an 0-2 conference record, have dropped six of their last eight games — some by a lot, some by a few points.

Because of their lack of size, Moore said, it’s imperative for the Mavericks to rebound and not give away possessions.

“We have to play with discipline, we have to take care of the ball, and we have to rebound,” Moore said. “We have to take care of every opportunity that’s handed to us. With every loose ball, we have to dive after it.

“We’ve got to want it more than the other person.”

Moore, too, needs to play better defense, Cooper said.

“One thing we talked about before the season was getting better on defense, and he’s worked at that, but he’s also one of our primary scorers, too,” Cooper said. “When Ike shoots the ball well, we usually do pretty well.”
