Raleigh renames park for NCCU basketball coach LeVelle Moton

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Raleigh City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to change the name of the Lane Street Mini Park to "LeVelle Moton Park."

Moton, the North Carolina Central University basketball coach, grew up in the neighborhood surrounding the park.

He told ABC11's newsgathering partners at the News & Observer that his mother tried to keep him away from the park.

"It was so much violence happening every day, she feared me being hurt," said Moton. "She never wanted me to go up there."

Moton credited the Raleigh Boy's Club with being a haven for him to hone his basketball skills.

Moton graduated from Enloe High School in 1992 and went on to play college basketball at N.C. Central.

His career began in Raleigh where he coached at West Millbrook Middle School and Sanderson High School from 2001-2004.

He became the head coach at N.C. Central in 2009 and has taken the team to the NCAA tournament for the past three years.

Moton said he is touched by the decision to rename the Raleigh park.

"It's crazy," Moton said. "Normally when people name parks after you they are just naming it because you donated some money or it's some politics behind it, but this is park is different. It's where I grew up. It's my park. I've seen so much happen at that park. I could write a movie on just that park."