Gore played the waiting game and came up a winner

By Sapna Pathak, Globe Correspondent



Michael Gore sat on the bench his first two seasons with the University of Massachusetts at Lowell men's basketball team. He was frustrated, and wondered whether he would see any playing time. But he was also patient, and attentive, while waiting for his opportunity to make a contribution.

"I said, 'Listen, I'm not sure if you'll get to play or where this will go,' " recalled UMass-Lowell coach Ken Barer. "When we recruited him, we saw he was someone who'd be able to compete. It would all depend on how he developed and how hard he'd work."

Gore joined the River Hawks as a recruited walk-on in 2004, after compiling a pretty impressive resume on the court at Shawsheen Valley Technical in Billerica. The 6-foot-5-inch forward was a three-year varsity performer, a three-time Commonwealth Conference all-star, and conference MVP both his junior and senior seasons.

His first two seasons at Lowell, however, he backed up Stacey Moragne, a two-time All-America selection. Biding his time, the Wilmington native worked on his physical development, logging extra time in the weight room and on the court refining his shooting game.

Barer noticed.

"He was always a 'Yes, coach. No, coach,' type of player," said Barer. "It's a lesson to learn from: Stay humble, work as hard as possible, and good things can happen. Over time, we saw him get stronger. He's not going to outrun or outjump you, but he'll outwork you."

Battling Moragne one-on-one during daily practice sessions toughened him up. With an accurate 3-point shot, a dependable hook, and the ability to drive to the net, Gore parlayed his versatile offensive skills into a starting role this year.

During the regular season, Gore averaged 9.3 points and 3.6 rebounds a game for the River Hawks, connecting on 52.1 percent of his shots.

"He's become my go-to guy in the post," said Barer. "He's got a great hook, he's good for 3-pointers and I know he's going to score somehow when he gets the ball. He earned the respect of the team when he was a sophomore showing he could score. But he really had to be patient. I'm sure . . . he was frustrated, but he never caused any waves."

The biggest transition was having the right mental approach.

"Physically I was ready, but mentally, I had to take a sort of trial-and-error type of view," said Gore. "I had to make some mistakes, like missing a defensive assignment, to learn the details and how to keep up with the speed of college. It was tough at first, all these other guys came from big schools in New York, and I was from a small Division 3 tech school. I knew I could play a big role if I worked on my game, so that's what I did."

On Saturday, he pumped in a career-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and collected 6 rebounds in Lowell's 70-69 upset of Merrimack in the first round of the NE-10 tournament. He was honored as the conference's Player of the Week for averaging 23.5 points and 5 rebounds in a pair of games.

He scored 10 points in Monday night's NE-10 quarterfinal against host Assumption, but Lowell's season ended with a 69-54 loss.

While Mike Gore made a name for himself in his final season with the River Hawks, his younger brother, Joe, was doing the same at Shawsheen Tech.

After quarterbacking the Rams to the Vocational Bowl championship in the fall, Gore recently scored his 1,000th career point on the basketball court, propelling Shawsheen to the state voke crown. A senior forward, Gore finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 38-34 showdown against Southeastern last month.

"I'm so proud of him scoring his 1,000th point," said Mike Gore of his younger brother. "It's something I never did. He's looking at colleges, but is undecided about whether he'll play football or basketball. Our driveway battles have definitely helped me become a better basketball player."