From the gridiron at USC to children's books, Moore and Thorne make a perfect pair

Langston Moore and Preston Thorne, who visited Sumter as part of the recent Gamecock Club gathering, have a lot in common.

The two were teammates on the University of South Carolina defensive line in the early 2000s under former USC head coach Lou Holtz. Both are from the Charleston area, with Moore prepping at James Island Charter High School and Thorne playing for the legendary John McKissick at Summerville High School. Both have been regular contributors to the university's flagship station, WNKT 107.5 The Game, and both have a background in education, either through work or family.

The two have also come together on a series of children's books, illustrated by Kev Roche, that are definitely Gamecock friendly in their theme. The series, catering to children ages 4-8, began with "Just a Chicken", published in 2015, and later included "Just a Chicken Little" (2019) and "Usta Wuz a Rooster" (2022), which Moore called their "COVID baby" because much of the work on it was done during the pandemic.

"One of the things that got us into it was just competition," said Moore, who played defensive tackle for the Gamecocks from 1999-2003 and initially served as a backup to Sumter High School alum Cleveland Pinkney. "We used to see a lot of these 'Good Night, Cocky' books bumping around and we're like, man, those don't even look like Gamecocks and the book doesn't really represent what we want to do.

"So Preston was an educator, my mom was an educator, I married an educator and one of the biggest things that Lou Holtz always instilled in us was a voracious habit of reading and always wanted his teams to read. So we kind of listened, just like any reluctant kids, and we kind of got the message."

Thorne proudly wore the garnet and black from 2000-2004, initially serving as a backup to Moore after redshirting his first year in the program. Thorne has made his mark as a history teacher and high school football coach, so writing children's books did not come naturally to him, but he agreed with Moore's assessment that their competitive nature brought them together on the project.

"I don't know if it was a natural progression," Thorne said. "I definitely had some training in the classroom as a teacher, but not with little kids and not with younger elementary school students. I used some of that training, but we saw some books that we didn't think were very good representations of the university and we wanted to do better than what we did, so we kind of competed and made a better version."

Moore, who played seven years in the National Football League and served as the sideline reporter for USC football games for seven seasons, said writing children's books was a venture that he and Thorne came by through trial and error.

"Originally we started off wanting to write a bunch of high-level leadership books," Moore said. "That didn't work, and so we started off with children's books and kind of took the story Lou Holtz used to tell us a long time ago and crafted it into this whole series."

Moore has been logging frequent flyer miles from his home in the Dallas area to join Thorne for special events relating to the book series, including school visits, Gamecock Club socials and other USC gatherings.

"When we're not doing books and stuff like that, we're doing a bunch of school visits," Moore said. "We do a lot of talks in and around the state around literacy and reading, and we really just get out there and promote kids to go pro in reading, writing and speaking as opposed to playing football. Everybody can't be Preston or Langston, because of physical size and everything, but everybody can go pro in books, and that's one of the things that we always impart on kids."

Along with their work together on the book series and passion towards children's literacy, the former defensive linemen also share a passion for the garnet and black that they have been able to share through their work in radio.

Moore said his years roaming the sidelines for football broadcasts, which began with the 2012 season, were a true treat, especially with the unprecedented success that many of those teams were experiencing.

"I got to see and experience all of the gameday stuff without actually having to like physically be in shape or have the anxiety of making plays and having a coach yell at me," said Moore, who is a regular guest on WNKT's The Halftime Show. "For me, is was cool just to be ground level with the game but to be close enough to the players and that's the one thing that I appreciate about the university for, one, letting me have that opportunity but, two, have the leeway to communicate and talk with the players. You know, I should be doing hits from the sidelines but I'm talking to Jadeveon Clowney or the other guys about stuff I see as a defensive lineman.

"Again, that's the really cool part for me, beyond seeing some of the winningest teams that we had with coach (Steve) Spurrier and all those different things. That was also a great time, because I think the most games I ever won at Carolina was nine, but to be here during the time when we probably had one of our most successful runs in another capacity was really cool, and to experience it from a ground level was awesome."

Along with his continued work in education, Thorne has enjoyed his time talking Gamecock sports and other topics of interest at WNKT, where he serves as a co-host on The Early Game, which runs from 9 a.m.-noon Monday through Friday

"It's awesome to be able to talk sports on a daily basis, because that's what I would do anyway," Thorne said. "That's what I would do in text messages with former teammates and with other people, so we know this thing is really important to all of us around here. For me, it's important to add a former player's perspective to the conversation and also just try and give a little perspective to fans, as someone who is also a fan and also that really cares about the university."

Thorne said that it is difficult when a Gamecock team is struggling and tough love has to judiciously be passed out.

"That's the toughest part because you realize that all of the players are playing as hard as they can, you know the coaches are coaching as hard as they can," Thorne said, "but at the same time there are standards and expectations for the programs and if you want to get to where we're all proud of them to represent these colors then putting in their best effort and winning is part of the deal. That's why the players come here, and that's why the coaches come here. They know that's part of their deal, so I don't feel too bad because I know it's coming from a place of love."

Moore came to South Carolina during Holtz's first season, which saw the Gamecocks go 0-11 after a 1-10 season the previous year under Brad Scott. Moore has been impressed with what head coach Shane Beamer was able to accomplish in year one, taking the Gamecocks to a 7-6 record with wins over Auburn, Florida and a 38-21 victory over North Carolina in the Duke's Mayo Bowl.

"Shane has done a really phenomenal job of getting the buy-in and getting kids to do the hard stuff, which is football, and that's not always easy," said Moore, whose NFL career included stops in Cincinnati, where he was a sixth-round draft pick in 2003, Arizona and Detroit. "Sometimes you see guys kind of try to rule with an iron fist but he's done a good job of blending that but also instilling a bunch of care and a lot of things that made us successful by taking it to a whole nother height. Like I said, he won seven games his first year and when we had Lou Holtz we didn't win any, so I think he's far ahead of where he should be."

The year Thorne joined Moore in the Gamecock program was the beginning of the turnaround from the 0-11 season that saw South Carolina go 8-4 and 9-3 with consecutive Outback Bowl victories over perennial Big Ten power Ohio State.

"It's palpable," Thorne said of the enthusiasm surrounding Gamecock football heading into Beamer's second season. "You can feel that everybody is encouraged and excited about this season coming in, and that's the best part. I think all you really want as a fan, at least I can only speak for myself, is you just want to go into every ball game and feel like you have a chance. I think people are starting to feel that way again and coach Beamer, he's making sure that he's connected to the community and we all know that he values this community and he values us, whether it's former players or towns like Sumter, places that really pour their heart into the program, he's making sure that they know that he values them. That's kind of all that we ever really want."

More information on the "Just a Chicken" book series can be found on the website AthletesandArtists.net or on Twitter through Moore [@reMovethechains], Thorne [@CoachPTweets] or Athletes & Artists [@AthleteArtist_].