Central City looks out for one of its own

CENTRAL CITY – There's no doubt who is Casey Moore's favorite basketball player.

Whenever the Central City sophomore makes a shot, whether it's practice, at home, or wherever, he strikes a pose.

'Kobe!” Moore said with a smile that never seems to leave his face. 'I have a dance, too.”

You don't have to prod him hard to get him to show it to you. It's a neat little shimmy with arm and hand extended and feet shuffling.

It gets a chuckle out of Central City head coach Tanner Carlson.

'He was playing in a game last year, and (assistant) Coach (Jon) McGovern told him ‘We're playing a zone, so you've got to make sure you've got your hands up on defense.' Then he looked at me and said ‘Can I shoot?' So I think shooting is his favorite part of basketball.”

That brings another chuckle from Carlson.

'You're a pretty good kid, aren't you Casey man?” he said, looking at Moore.

A pretty good kid that loves Kobe and basketball, and that every one at Central City knows, likes and looks after. There are a lot of schools where a special needs student like Casey Moore would be ignored or made fun of.

But not here. No way.

'We have great kids, we really do,” Carlson said. 'Our entire school has a lot of really good kids. Our basketball kids are great with him, and so are our other kids. They are so good to him. They understand that there are some things Casey won't be doing that they're doing. They are always willing to help him out so he can contribute to their group.”

'We accept him as one of us,” said junior guard Sam Hall. 'We see when he's joking around. We'll tell him to quiet down when Coach is talking. Sometimes he doesn't realize when it's joking time, and when it's serious time. We'll remind him. Everybody is accepting of him, and it's really great that he's a part of our team.”

It's such a mature approach for such young kids.

'Getting him involved and everything, we feel like it really means a lot to him,” said senior guard Blake Willenborg. 'He gets an opportunity to play, and I know that means a lot to him.”

When school started this year at Central City in late summer, Moore would come up to Carlson and ask him when basketball practice began. Every single day.

Finally, Carlson sent an e-mail to Moore's special education teachers at the school, so they could put a sign up for him. They'd take a number off that sign each day.

'I like being with my friends,” Moore said. 'I like Coach Carlson. He's funny.”

The first day of practice in November, Carlson – not far removed from his playing days at Knox College in Illinois – challenged Casey to a one-on-one game. Schoolmates showed up to support Moore, complete with signs and everything.

Casey got the first shot of the game and made it. Everyone went nuts.

'Basketball really does mean a lot to him,” Carlson said. 'He has a hard time telling you that. But it's pretty cool to see his change over the last couple of years with the kids, getting to know them, and even things like remembering their names. Stuff like that is huge. They are all so good with him, and that's pretty awesome.”

'I think he has improved a lot since he's been playing basketball. It wears him out,” said Moore's mother, Barb. ''He's a very outgoing kid, even at home. He is always on the go, always doing something. If he's not playing basketball, he's playing football at home. I think he has improved a lot in his patience. We're really proud of him.”

Moore plays only on Central City's junior varsity team and doesn't get into many games. Usually he's on the bench, his legs shaking with nervous energy as he's cheering on his teammates.

But you should see those teammates when he does actually play. The Central City gym suddenly came to life when he was buzzed into a recent JV game against Elkader Central.

The opponent seemed to know this was a special occasion and didn't defend Casey tightly, allowing him to get off three shots. They all came from 3-point range, naturally, each missing, as everyone groaned in disappointment.

'I like to shoot from the white line,” Casey said. 'Shoot from there. I shoot at home from there all the time. I put lines down on my court at home.”

Just prior to a game last week, North Linn Coach Travis Griffith noticed a Gazette photographer. They struck up a conversation, with the photographer telling Griffith he was there to shoot photos of Moore for a story.

Griffith talked with McGovern, Central City's head JV coach, one thing led to another, and Casey got to start for the very first time. He was positioned underneath the opponent's bucket, Central City won an unopposed opening tip and passed the ball to him.

Kobe!

'He is extremely important to me,” Carlson said. 'Every time I go home and tell somebody about the team, I've got probably 100 different stories about different things that Casey did or Casey said.”

There is one that Carlson's friends always seems to get a kick out of.

'Last year, our varsity had just gotten beat pretty good in a game I thought we could have won,” he said. 'The JV, on the other hand, won its game. So the next morning, I was in line here to get breakfast and was pretty upset. Casey tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘We won, Coach!' He was just so excited. Even though I was super mad about how the varsity game went, seeing how much it meant to him that the JV won, that made me feel better. His team won, so the rest didn't matter.”

Carlson shook his head.

'I've got him for two more years,” he said. 'And I'm ecstatic about it.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com