The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/644580
60 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY BRIAN RAPP I f you are a follower of sports-themed movies, you're probably familiar with "Rudy," the 1993 biopic about an un- dersized high school football player from Illinois who walks onto the Notre Dame football team and winds up being carried off the field by his teammates after playing all of two downs in the final game of his senior year. There have been many Rudy-esque sto- ries in the long history of athletics at NC State — including at least two in the past decade for the Wolfpack women's basket- ball team. Kristy Kenney (2009) and Kim Durham (2009-12) began their careers with the Pack as unrecruited walk-ons and be- came valuable contributors. In the case of Burlington native and se- nior guard Kaley Moser, her story won't include any substantial statistics to record her contributions to NC State's hardcourt success these past four seasons. Moser will hang up her sneakers after four years of remaining a volunteer member of a team on which she has played a grand total of 76 career minutes and scored 20 total points through Feb. 21. So what makes an individual who almost never sees the court return year after year to a role limited to basically being practice fodder for the scholarship players and a bench-warming cheerleader the rest of the time? In Moser's case, it's her understanding of a much deeper "purpose" — a word she uses a lot to define her motivation and sense of fulfillment in her role. It's be- cause, no matter how small or insignificant her contributions may seem to outsiders, her efforts have been universally applauded and appreciated by her teammates and coaches. "When I got here, it wasn't a situation where we didn't have enough players to practice, so I really questioned whether we would have Kaley continue with the pro- gram," admitted head coach Wes Moore, who inherited Moser in 2013 after replac- ing former coach Kellie Harper. "But after being around her, and seeing her interact with the team and the way she puts every- one and everything above herself, I could see how she could contribute to our striv- ing to get this program to where we want it to be." "She's probably the nicest person I've ever known in my life," junior captain Miah Spencer added. "Being an overall good person and a good teammate to everybody is the definition of Kaley. And she might not say a lot, but she's also a great leader." Moser's selfless approach to her sup- porting role for the Pack is, by her own A PURPOSE FULFILLED Kaley Moser's Contributions The Past Four Years Can't Be Measured By Stats Moser, a four-year walk-on, has been called a role model on and off the court by Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS