Asked about his star point guard, Warsaw Community High School boys basketball coach Doug Ogle said his first memory of Nic Moore is from about eight years ago.
"Nic was in third or fourth grade," Ogle said with a smile. "They were having an elementary school game in between the JV and varsity games in the Tiger Den, and later that night my dad was talking to me about this boy from Madison that put on a show."Not much has changed.
Moore, now a junior at WCHS, certainly has the knack for putting on a show in the Tiger Den, or wherever Warsaw is playing.
The outgoing, well-liked kid who was popular enough to sit in the high school cheerblock when he was in elementary school, Moore is now one of the Hoosier State's marquee players.
In leading the Tigers to an 18-2 record, including a 7-0 mark in the Northern Lakes Conference, the 5-foot-9 Moore averages nearly 21 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals per game.
He shoots 48 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point point range, and has converted 79 percent of his free throws.
And for the second straight year, Moore has been named the Times-Union Area Player of the Year.
Last season he shared the honor with now-graduated teammate Ryne Robinson. While there are other players in the area that have scored more points than him, Moore's all-around game and ever-improving leadership easily helped distance himself from the field.
"Jeff Grose made the comment, he said Nic Moore has the 'Scott Skiles factor,'" said Ogle. "That's a combination of moxy, athleticism and incredible basketball instincts. That makes him a very unusual player. He makes his teammates better. He can score anytime he wants to, but his passing ability helps make us a pretty good team. We get a lot of easy baskets because of Nic's ability to see the court and find the open man."
Skiles possessed those same abilities as he led Plymouth to the 1982 state championship and was later a first team All-America selection as a senior at Michigan State University.
Grose, a teacher and freshman boys basketball coach at WCHS, led Warsaw to the 1984 state championship, was named Mr. Basketball in 1985 and later starred in the Big Ten himself, playing at Northwestern.
Grose is second on Warsaw's all-time scoring list with 1,751 points.
Moore, who has scored 32 and 29 points, respectively, in Warsaw's last two games, is currently sixth in career points at Warsaw with 1,182, and he's climbing the list fast.
What makes Moore so good?
"I think I can can do everything, dribble, score, get my teammates involved," said Moore, who dished out credit to his teammates as quickly as he can find them with a no-look pass. "It's not all about me. I care about my teammates, and I care about winning. That makes us hard to beat. Some players just to get their's. I used to be like that, but Coach Ogle and Coach Grose have worked with me, and when I get my teammates involved, we're pretty good."
The class of 2011 in Indiana is loaded with some talented guards - Bloomington South's Matt Carlino and Dee Davis, Indianapolis Pike's Marquis Teague, and Muncie Central's Jeremiah Davis.
While those players wow the central part of the state, garner headlines in the Indianapolis market and benefit from what many call the 'Indy bias', Ogle said he'd rather have Moore.
"I've seen Dee Davis and Jeremiah Davis and Marquis Teague," said Ogle. "They're great players, but I'd rather have Nic Moore. If you put those guys with our players, I'm not sure we'd be 5-1 against Marion and Fort Wayne Luers the past three years. Nic plays big in big games. He has the rare ability to be a big-time player and also get his teammates involved. He has the ability to figure out how to beat a team. He'd be a very good coach."
Among those in his graduating class in the north, Moore may be the brightest star.
Few players, if any, possess his ability to take over a game.
In a key conference game at Concord, when Warsaw's shots weren't falling, Moore put the Tigers on his back. He scored 15 of Warsaw's 17 points in the third quarter.
At Elkhart Memorial, another key conference game, Moore scored 24 points, made 10 steals and dished out six assists. He helped the Tigers overcome an 11-0 deficit en route to a double-digit win.
The next night, his stat line included 25 points and 10 assists.
Against Carroll, a team that was on a 14-game win streak, Moore scored 29 points at the Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
Just when you want to say he's a bit selfish, you need to know that he led the team in rebounds with eight and also dished out eight assists.
Over the past two seasons, Warsaw is 13-1 in conference play.
In the Tigers' last 50 games, they own a 42-8 record.
Often the smallest player on the floor, Moore is a giant part of that success.
"I want to be the best player I can be," said Moore. "I want us to win, and I want my teammates to be involved. I think my leadership is getting better. I've been staying after practice to put in extra time. I wanna do whatever it takes for us to win."
While opposing coaches and players may consider Moore public enemy No. 1 because of what he's done to their teams, Warsaw's fans have seem to have embraced him.
Moore is a people person. He carries a swagger, but also greet fellow students and fans alike, old and young, with a smile.
"I've always liked meeting new people," said Moore. "My dad's family is very talkative, and I just grew up that way. I like to be around people. Everybody has a story, and even if I don't know them, I'll walk up and say hi."
After playing basketball in college, Moore said he would like to be a coach, work with special education students or teach at an elementary school.
