Francis Marion College officials have announced that two Pee Dee
area natives will be the first inductees into the newly formed FMC
Athletic Hall of Fame. The two honorees will be women's
basketball player Pearl Moore, originally from Florence, and men's
basketball player Robert Moore, a native of Cheraw, S.C.
Induction ceremonies will take place during the Homecoming
basketball doubleheader, Saturday, Feb. 15, 1992, in the Smith
College Center.
Pearl Moore was a four-time All-American during the years
1975-79. The 5'7" guard-forward still holds the women's
college basketball career scoring record with 4,061 points.
After earning a B.S. degree in sociology in 1979, she played
several years of professional basketball, both in the United States
and overseas.
Moore received numerous honors during her four years at Francis
Marion and she still holds many Lady Patriot basketball
records. Following her record setting senior season, she was
honored as a "Palmetto Lady" by then South Carolina Governor Dick
Riley, and March 26, 1979 was designated as "Pearl Moore Day" in
Florence. She was also named a "Kentucky Colonel"
by the state of Kentucky after she broke the career scoring record
in her final game, played in Louisville, Ky. Moore was also
named the 1979 Small College "Player of the Year" by the American
Women's Sports Foundation.
Other highlights of her career included a record setting
60-point single-game performance in the 1978 AIAW Small College
National Tournament, hosted by Francis Marion, and in 1976,
following her freshman year, she survived all but the final cut at
the United States Olympic Team tryouts. As a freshman, she
averaged 26.8 points per game, followed by averages of 31.7 ppg,
33.6 ppg, and 31.1 ppg each of the next three years. During
Pearl's four years, the Lady Patriots recorded an 85-42 record and
advanced to post-season play each year.
Moore was named to Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges
and Universities and both had her uniform number (12) retired upon
completion of her career.
