TJ MOSLEY FLYING TO HOOP
By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
There is a lot of basketball upside to TJ Mosley. You can hear it from his dad Tarence Mosley, who has coached his son and been at his side through high school, including his last two years at Olympic, you can hear it from his coach at Olympic, Devin Huff, and you can hear it from his next coach, David Durham at WhatcomCommunity College in Bellingham.
Yeah, we know, upside is like potential, it can disappear pretty quickly if the player is not dedicated and does not work at it. But Mosley appears to be the kind of player who will do that, and combine that with good basketball smarts and he has a chance to achieve his dream of one day playing at a four-year school, and maybe even beyond that.
“What we do like is his speed – offensively and defensively lateral speed,’ says Durham, who has built one of the better basketball programs in the Northwest Athletic Conference (formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges).
Durham connected with Mosley through Will Perry, former Central Kitsap basketball player who played one year at Whatcom before moving on to Montana State Northern. He recommended Mosley to Durham, who invited Mosley to a Whatcom game last season against Peninsula. From there, he invited Mosley to open gyms and from there he offered a scholarship to play for the Orcas.
Mosley will have to fight for starting minutes this winter in his freshman season with the Orcas. Durham, who stresses education as much if not more than basketball, evaluates each player after initial tryouts and then doles out playing time accordingly. It’s probably he will see limited time until he fully matures and becomes stronger.
It was in the second grade before Mosley arrived in Kitsap. His family lived in Fairfield, Calif. before that. He started playing basketball in the third grade with the Silverdale Peewees and has worked on up through the usual system, playing AAU ball in the off-season.
TJ MOSLEY SCORING
Mosley began to hit his basketball stride with a West Side Hoops eighth-grade team that started out as average but by time he became a sophomore in high school was winning tournaments up and down the coast.
He played his sophomore year at CentralKitsapHigh School, but the family moved to Illahee and he then transferred to Olympic High School for his junior and senior year.
“He was sixth man (his junior year) and was a key player off the bench for that team that won the (Olympic) league title and made the state tournament,” says Huff. “He was a vital player. We already had established players in RJ Neal and Quentin Phillips at guard, but TJ was able to come in and give us huge numbers in limited time. For the amount of time he played, his productively was pretty high. And he was productive on both ends of the floor.”
Last season, his senior year at Olympic, Mosley became more of a fixture at guard as the starting No. 2 guard (Makaleb McInnis started at the point) and cemented his reputation as a defensive star.
“He’s a tremendous athlete who runs the floor very well and is very quick,” says Huff. I would say, honestly, his biggest thing is his defense. He had the toughest defensive assignment night in and night out. When we matched up (man defense) he would be on (the opponents) best player. And he would really exhaust himself.”
Huff said the key to Mosley’s defensive success is the ability to move his feet laterally and keep opponents in front of him. Coupled with a huge competitive nature, it made for tough nights for some of the better offensive players in the Olympic League when they had to go up against Mosley.
And whether it was on defense or offense, Mosley never changes his expression, frustrating opponents because they never know whether they are getting to him or not.
“He can win a million dollars in the lottery and have the same expression,” says his dad, Tarence Mosley.
He is also deceptively quick, which can further confound opponents.
“He doesn’t think he’s fast, but he is really quick,” says Tarence Mosley.
TJ MOSLEY GETTING OFF A HIGH-FLYING SHOT
Mosley, who is about five-foot-11 and 175 pounds, used that quickness to run the floor very well. In fact, he looks silky smooth as he moves, and he has a quick extra gear that allows him to slash to the basket, and when given the chance he can dunk the ball, or “bang out”, as he calls it.
It’s kind of strange, but when Mosley was playing AAU ball he was more of a scorer, but in high school it has-been his defense that has stood out. And it is what has attracted Durham at Whatcom.
Durham believes as Mosley gets stronger by getting into the weight room and as he matures other parts of his game will come together. Right now he says Mosley can shoot it, although he needs to get better at it.
“That’s something we will work on,” says Durham. “We want to get our player where if you are left wide open you can knock it down and be somebody who is feared. But I think we can turn him around pretty quickly.
“I do like that he can slash to the basket strong for his size.”
Mosley agrees his strength as a player is his defense, but warns he can score too.
“I can still play offense,” he says. “If the coach needs me to score, I can score. And I can shoot the three.”
Huff is excited to see how it all works out for Mosley at Whatcom, which he considers one of the better programs among Northwest community colleges.
“It’s really cool that Whatcom wants him up there,” says Huff.
Mosley is also excited about the chance to play there, and to get better and move his long-term goal to fruition.
“My long-term goal is to play at Western (Washington),” says Mosley, who wants to pursue a degree in business administration. “I want to improve and not just on the court, but off the court. I want to stay humble and be grateful for what I do have.”
And right now, Mosley has a lot with the potential to add more to his upside.