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IllustrateD volume 24, issue 4 65 f "Jerry is such a competitor, and I went to him imme- diately after the play and told him, 'You did the best you could, don't worry about it,'" Rose said. "He is just a won- derful person, and our relationship since then has grown and grown over the years." So has the legend of Purdue's Big Ten title team 35 years ago. "This team was a testament to focus and having a great player in Joe Barry with other guys buying in," Rose said. When asked if his positive initial meeting with Carroll in Lexington was a harbinger of the championship season that was to come, Rose, in his southern understated ways, simply said, "It certainly didn't hurt. Without it, we proba- bly don't get there." And that's an understatement that stands at least as tall as 7-1. j b l a s t f r o m t h e p a s t : e ' t w a u n m o o r e BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com INDIANAPOLIS — E'Twaun Moore scored more than 2,000 points at Purdue and left the school as one of its all-time greats. But even back then, he was never even really regarded as the best professional prospect on his own team. Some doubted his athleticism, or how he would fit into the NBA's traditional 1-through-5 position- al structure, or whether he'd be strong enough to stack up with the greatest players in the world. Yet, here he is, having found his place in the league, in his second season as a valued contribu- tor for the Orlando Magic. "Some days I wake up and think, 'Dang, I'm in the NBA,'" Moore said. "It's great and I'm just very thankful to be here, especially after growing up in a tough environment not knowing where I was going to be. I'm blessed to be here." It's not come easily. Moore came into the 2011 draft right on top of a lockout and was drafted by Boston in the sec- ond round, where nothing is ever guaranteed. Af- ter biding his time playing briefly in Italy while the labor strife resolved itself, Moore had to battle for a roster spot with the Celtics, which he occu- pied for one season before being traded in what amounted to a salary-dump deal to the Houston Rockets, who immediately waived him. Finding His Place Former Boilermaker star carves out niche in NBA Fernando Medina E'Twaun Moore has proven doubters wrong, playing in his third season in the NBA and becoming a significant contributor off the bench for the Orlando Magic.