Gerald Moore Jr., 49; Northwestern High Basketball Coach

Gerald Moore Jr., 49, the boys' basketball coach at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville who won three state championships earlier in his career at Friendly High School in Fort Washington, died Dec. 11 of a heart attack. He became ill at his home and died at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie.

Mr. Moore was a well-liked figure in local basketball circles and won respect not just for his work on the basketball court but also for mentoring players from difficult backgrounds. He began his career at Arundel High School in Gambrills in the late 1980s and led his team to a 21-4 record in 1994-95 and a berth in the Maryland 4A semifinals.

He found his greatest success as coach of the Friendly High Patriots, where, from 1996 to 2004, he built a basketball juggernaut that won the Maryland 3A title in 1998 and 2003 and the 2A championship in 2004.

In his final two seasons at Friendly, Mr. Moore's team had a combined record of 50-3. (The Patriots won 26 games without a loss in 2002-03 but had to forfeit a game because of an illegal practice during the Christmas break.)

In 2003-04, Friendly had a 25-2 record, including 19 consecutive victories to end the season. Led by 6-foot-6 Sam Young (now an all-American candidate at the University of Pittsburgh) and 6-3 guard Chris Howard (now at the University of South Florida), the Patriots defeated Lansdowne High School in the state tournament final, 84-58.

Before the state championship game in 2004, Mr. Moore told The Washington Post: "I ain't bragging, but if I get another one of these, something is going on here. . . . I want everything I can get now because who knows what is going to happen down the road."

For reasons never explained, Mr. Moore was dismissed as basketball coach at Friendly soon after winning the 2004 state championship. He had been criticized by some rival coaches for recruiting players outside his school's neighborhood, but that has long been a practice at top high school athletic programs.

After a year as a physical education teacher, Mr. Moore moved to Northwestern High in 2005, taking over a basketball team that had languished at the bottom of the standings for years.

On Dec. 13, Northwestern played its first game after Mr. Moore's death, against Riverdale Baptist School, coached by his longtime friend, Louis Wilson.

"He and I were very, very close," said Wilson, who had known Mr. Moore since high school. "It was very emotional."

Riverdale Baptist won the game, but Wilson noted, "His kids played inspired."

Gerald Moore Jr. was born Aug. 27, 1959, at Andrews Air Force Base. His father spent 24 years in the Air Force, reaching the rank of chief master sergeant, and worked with his son as an assistant coach at Arundel, Friendly and Northwestern.