It was nine years ago that Rashard Griffith returned to the University of Wisconsin to complete his education. Getting his degree was a promise he made to his mom.
It was a promise he also made to Howard Moore, a former teammate on the Badgers basketball team and a close friend since their high school playing days in Chicago.
Moore kept pushing and pushing him to come back throughout the nearly two decades that Griffith was competing professionally in Europe.
Moore kept pushing him to come back knowing one of their UW teammates, Michael Finley, came back and got his degree when he was 41.
When Griffith finally did come back to campus and enroll in classes, at age 42, it was Howard and his wife, Jennifer, who opened their home and hearts to him.
Griffith lived with the Moore family.
“Uncle Rashard has been a babysitter to our kids as he has been getting reacclimated to Madison,” Moore told me in January 2017.
“I want to help him understand we have a lot of people who support him, are proud of him and are willing to do whatever they need to do to get this off to the right start.
“He understands what he needs to do. … We’re not young and trying to figure out what life is all about. He’s a lot more focused and driven to get this done.
“I just want to be there for him.”
The reverse is now true.
In early March 2020, Griffith was recognized with Wisconsin’s two graduating seniors before the Badgers’ final home game of the season at the Kohl Center.
Griffith was graduating in May from the School of Human Ecology with a degree in community, nonprofit leadership. He kept his word to his mom. And to Howard Moore.
Joining Griffith on the Kohl Center floor was his younger brother from Chicago and Moore’s parents, Howard Sr. and Trennis. It was understandably emotional.
Howard Moore was unable to be there. He was still recovering from a horrific 2019 car crash that claimed his wife, Jennifer, and their daughter, Jaidyn.
The Moore’s son, Jerell, who survived the crash, was at the Kohl Center and sat on the bench at times with the UW players. He was wearing his dad’s No. 34 jersey.
Last Friday, Griffith had a 2019 flashback.
Griffith recounted sitting on the couch with Howard Moore in his home and the conversation they had not long after the Memorial Day weekend accident.
“I told him I was going to stop going to school,” Griffith recalled, “so I could be there to help him until he recovered, and then I would just pick up where I left off.”
Moore refused to hear it.
“Howard being Howard,” Griffith said, “he talked to his mom and told her if anything ever happens to him, Griff is going to want to quit school, don’t let him stop.
“Howard was still looking out for me even though he was going through great physical and emotional pain.”
Less than a month after returning to Madison, Moore had a heart attack. Griffith thought about leaving school again. Trennis Moore refused to hear it.
After months in a rehabilitation facility, Howard Moore came back to his home in Middleton. He has been there ever since under the care of his parents.
Griffith is there every day. Arriving normally in mid-morning. “Whenever Mom and Pops need me,” said the 7-foot, 280-pound Griffith, “that’s when I’m there.”
There are different needs. And every day is different. “It’s not about me,” Griffith said. “It’s about Howard, my brother, recovering and making his way back…”
Former Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore is pushed onto the court by former teammate Rashard Griffith in March 2024 before a game against Illinois at the Kohl Center in Madison.
SAMANTHA MADAR / WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Documentary screening, discussion
On Feb. 14, Griffith will take part in a 5:40 p.m. screening of the documentary “A Road at Night” at Marcus Theatres Point Cinema in Madison. A panel discussion will follow.
The panel will include Stan Van Gundy, who was the UW head coach during Griffith’s sophomore year at Wisconsin, and Andy Kilbride, one of Griffith’s old teammates.
The first public showing of the critically acclaimed film will be Feb. 13-19 at Marcus Point Cinema, and the ticket sales will support Moore’s ongoing care.
“For the people who see it,” Griffith said, “if you’re a good person and you’ve got a big heart, it’s going to tug on your heart strings for sure.”
Griffith is completing his fourth season as the head coach of the Middleton High School girls basketball team. He admitted “being a coach is always a work in progress.”
Brooke Michelotti, a 1,000-point scorer, and Rowan Borne are seniors and have been fixtures in the lineup since they were freshmen. Griffith has watched them grow.
“It’s what I get the most out of,” he said. “Seeing the kids come into the program and then growing into young women and seeing their confidence growing.”
Griffith reminds his players, “You’ve got to capitalize on the time that you’re given, and when that opportunity presents itself honor that moment you’ve been blessed with.”
Along with his coaching, Griffith is the student engagement coordinator at Hamilton Middle School in Madison. He loves working with the kids, grades sixth through eighth.
“I’m helping them understand that they’ve got a duty to themselves, the school and community,” he said. “I’m showing them that they have options out there.”
The last time Griffith saw Jennifer Moore was the Thursday before the family left for that Memorial Day weekend trip to visit her mom in Michigan.
“She came over to my apartment and we talked,” he said. “And she told me when they got back, they were throwing a barbeque at their house and I’d better be there.”
Griffith never saw her again. Or Jaidyn.
“When I say it put things into perspective,” he said, “it lets you know that once again we all know that tomorrow is not promised at any time.”
Today, he just wants to be there for him.
Or rather for them. Howard and Jerell.