MADISON, Wis. — An email arrived in Edgewood University basketball coach Justin Meyer’s inbox late in the spring of 2024. Jerell Moore wanted to introduce himself.
Moore told Meyer he was a senior at nearby Middleton High School and planned to attend Edgewood. He didn’t have the same type of previous varsity experience typically associated with a Division III college player — he had played more football instead — but was there any way he could be involved with the basketball program?
Meyer, who had been at Edgewood since 2003, knew Jerell’s dad, Howard, from various basketball events and recruiting trips over the years. And when he met Jerell in person in the fall of 2024, he came away so impressed with Jerell’s character and perseverance that he knew he needed to find a role in the program for Jerell, who was brought in as a student manager/coach. That’s how Jerell’s reintroduction to the sport that meant so much to him began.
Some people might run away from any reminders of the life they once had as they deal with the aftermath of unimaginable tragedy. Jerell Moore decided he wanted to run toward it.
“I feel like I put my whole identity behind it,” Jerell said. “I kind of pour my life and my heart and soul into the game. Even though everybody around me tells me it feels like I don’t have to play the game to make my father proud or my family proud, I just feel like to make myself proud, I’ve got to at least have some kind of impact on the game before I leave this planet.”
That’s a heavy responsibility for a 19-year-old college sophomore to carry. But it’s one that Jerell believes is important as he continues to search for positives following the accident that forever changed his world.
Jerell was 13 years old when his family was involved in a devastating car crash from a wrong-way drunk driver on a Michigan highway around 2 a.m. on May 25, 2019. The driver, 23-year-old Samantha Winchester, had a blood-alcohol content level of 0.207 percent, more than 2.5 times Michigan’s legal limit, and was killed. Jerell’s mom, Jennifer, and his 9-year-old sister, Jaidyn, died as well.
Jerell, who broke his collarbone in the accident, helped wake up his dad and encourage him to get out of their car. Howard sustained third-degree burns and, during the initial stages of recovery, suffered a heart attack that left him severely disabled.
The Moore family: Jennifer, Jaidyn, Howard and Jerell. (Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)
Director John Roach created a gripping documentary entitled “A Road at Night” recounting the events and its lasting impact on the family and community. That documentary is now available for the general public to view until next Thursday at Marcus Point Cinema in Madison. All proceeds will go toward supporting Howard Moore’s ongoing care. Jerell called the support the Wisconsin community has demonstrated since the accident “mind-blowing.”
Jerell said he has leaned on multiple people in his inner circle to lift him up. His grandparents, Howard Moore Sr. and Trennis, moved from Chicago to the Madison area to care for both their son and Jerell. He has talked often to his dad’s brother, Darnell Moore, and Rashard Griffith, a close friend and former teammate of Howard’s at Wisconsin whom Jerell affectionally refers to as “Uncle Griff.” Griffith continues to visit Howard every day and be a sounding board for Jerell.
“We’ve just got to keep a tab on his mental beat to see how he’s doing, how he’s feeling about things because over time, the way we think about things and the way we do things, that changes,” Griffith said. “He’s in college. So his mind can be all over the place. His emotions can be all over the place.
“But as of right now, he’s handling it well, the things that went on and what he’s been through. I’m here for him. The family is here for him to help him, to see him through and to see him accomplish his goals. Because he has goals and dreams that he’s set for himself and things that he wants to do.”
Jerell said he is studying marketing and finance. He hopes to pursue private commercial real estate investing to help families in need find a place to stay. But, at least in the short-term, he has placed a renewed emphasis on basketball.
Howard Moore appeared in 47 games as a player at Wisconsin from 1991-95 and was a member of the Badgers’ first NCAA Tournament team in 47 years. That era is known for outstanding on-court performances from Griffith, Michael Finley and Tracy Webster. But Howard was an outgoing leader whom teammates gravitated toward. Griffith, a Chicago native like Howard, said one reason he came to Wisconsin was because of Howard and his message about the opportunity the program presented and how Howard would help take care of him.
Howard eventually went into college coaching and served two stints as an assistant at Wisconsin, from 2005-10 under Bo Ryan and from 2015-19 under Greg Gard. In between, he was the head coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Jerell’s memories of his dad as a coach stuck with him. Jerrell, who still watches Wisconsin basketball games when he can with Howard, said he has listened to interviews of his dad on YouTube and watched highlights of those 1990s Wisconsin teams on recordings found in the closet. Those moments continue to inspire Jerell.
Howard Moore and Greg Gard on the sideline during a Wisconsin basketball game. (Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)
“I’ve listened to every single interview he’s had,” Jerell said. “I’ve seen him talk with the players and share his insight with the team and the world. Just hearing, especially when he was a head coach, his thoughts of how the guys were doing, how his team was doing, how he was coaching after the game.
“He was always there after the games in the locker room, just hearing him and coach Gard talk about things that the team needs to do better. I can’t wait to be at least playing at a higher level to be able to hear these kinds of things and be doing kind of the same thing my dad was doing.”
Jerell’s most publicized basketball experiences have come on the Kohl Center court in moments recognizing his dad and his family. Wisconsin honored Howard before its 2019 season opener against Eastern Illinois, and Jerell was introduced as an honorary member of the Badgers’ starting lineup while wearing No. 34, the jersey number his dad wore for Wisconsin. Jerell was on the court again in March 2024 when Howard made his first return to the Kohl Center since the accident during a game against Illinois, and Jerell spoke to the crowd at halftime.
“You can only imagine what he’s had to work through, what he saw and the memories that come from that,” Gard said. “He’s taken what was as difficult of a life situation as you could envision. Hollywood couldn’t create something that disastrous and traumatic. And he’s been able to use it as a springboard and a platform to not only help others but to better himself.
“It’s a reflection of Howard, really. Howard maybe can’t communicate that. But I know he’s extremely proud of Jerell, of how he’s handled it and how he’s used it to better himself and used it to help other people.”
Meyer said Jerell initially did not take enough credits as a freshman to play for Edgewood because he had so much going on in his life. But Jerell dove into the idea of helping the team in any way he could and has remained in a manager and coach role as a sophomore while handling a full credit load.
Meyer noted Jerell does “a little bit of everything at practice.” He defends players in specific ways to give them the best look at a future opponent. He holds pads and knocks them around as they drive to the basket. He operates the clock and scoreboard. He rebounds for players. He’ll stay in the gym after practice and get shots up himself.
Jerell has been a ray of positivity for an Edgewood team that is 4-17. He sits on the bench for every game, home and away, has bonded with the players and is the person you’ll find dancing in the middle of the pregame huddle. Meyer said Jerell’s story has provided perspective for the group and that his optimistic outlook has been awe-inspiring. Meyer has told Jerell he’ll have a place with the team for his next two years in school “and beyond that” if he is so inclined.
Jerell Moore was introduced as an honorary member of Wisconsin’s starting lineup for the 2019 season opener. (Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)
“There’s a lot of growing up that he had to do a lot faster than he should’ve,” Meyer said. “It’s the way that he handled himself and approached things and how appreciative he was of really any opportunity. He’s got a great personality. He just has an energy that lights up the gym, which is one thing that I know the guys like about having him around.
“To see that energy that he has and the gratefulness that he has for the day-to-day with everything that he’s had to go through at such a young age and now into his own adulthood, it’s really hard not to root for a person like that and not to want to try and give him whatever outlets he needs to have some of that normalcy.”
Meyer said it has been important for Jerell to reconnect with parts of his life that made him happy as a kid. Giving him that sense of normalcy for two-plus hours most days during the season has been a fulfilling experience for Jerell. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been hard moments.
Gard said he knows Jerell has endured some “extremely dark days” while battling with the trauma of his situation. Sometimes, Jerell acknowledged, when he sits in the locker room changing after home games and watches the other players head back out to the court to meet their families, he is overcome with grief about what he has lost.
Still, he keeps going in the only direction he knows how: forward. He continues to show up in support of his friends and make basketball a priority.
“I think he was a lost soul a little bit right after the accident,” Gard said. “Like, no driving force. But he’s been able to find the love back for basketball and use that to help other people and a bridge back to his dad and what his dad was doing. His dad was able to help other people through the game of basketball, to teach life through a game. I think Jerell is starting to see that path for him, too.”
Jerell said his experiences have taught him that life is precious and that it’s best to find ways to be positive and create a greater sense of purpose and meaning. He wants to do things that would instill pride in his family, and he wants to find happiness for himself. He already has identified his next objective in that pursuit through conversations with Meyer: To try out for the team next season and become a college player in Madison like his dad.
He’s currently working on his mid-range game between practices to become what he calls a more dangerous three-level scoring threat. And Jerell is channeling an optimistic spirit to make his dad proud.
“Next year,” Jerell said, “is definitely my year.”
(Top photo of Howard Moore Sr. and Jerell Moore courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)
