Jeremy Moss may have opted to stop playing organized basketball after he graduated in 2012 graduation from Festus, but he still had his eyes set on a career in the sport.
Despite finishing his senior season as the leading scorer for a Tigers squad that went 18-9, Moss said he had no illusions regarding his future as a player. So he decided to take a different path.
“I knew that I wasn’t going to play anywhere big in college, but I’m a competitor, and I knew that I wanted to get back to competing as quickly as possible,” Moss said. “I thought coaching would be the best avenue for me to do that.”
After three seasons as an assistant varsity coach at his alma mater, Moss jumped at the chance to lead a team, and the opportunity came after Buddy Sodemann left Northwest.
“I’m very excited about this,” said Moss, also a physical education teacher at the high school. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Moss said he is well aware of the difficulties that Northwest has faced in recent seasons. The Lions last posted a winning record in 2006-07, and in the 11 seasons since, they have compiled an overall mark of 53-226, including 1-24 a year ago.
“I know there will be a lot of challenges, it’s going to be a tough battle, but I’m ready to take on the challenge,” Moss said. “We’ve been practicing now for about two weeks, and we’re really coming along.”
Moss will be starting with a fairly clean slate, as Northwest returns just three players with varsity experience, including one starter. That lone returning starter, Seth Fortner, also is the only senior on the team.
“We’re really young, but I’ll take it,” Moss said. “Hopefully with a lot of new guys out there, maybe we’ll be able to get off to a new, fresh start, have a chance to start building things with younger guys.”
Moss said the coaching staff of varsity assistant Dennis Flaherty, junior varsity coach Eli Sample and freshman coach Max Pott is new to the program.
“All of our coaches are new, most of the players are new, so we don’t really have anybody saying, ‘Oh, this is how we did it last year,’” Moss said. “I’ve looked over some things that Coach Sodemann had left, but for the most part, there’s no carryover as far as concepts and things like that. We’re brand new, and I’m excited about it.”
Moss said he’s also excited about the attitude and effort that his players are bringing to the court.
“I love all the guys whom I’m working with,” he said. “They’re great kids, and they’re all working hard. They listen, they pick up on things really quick. I mean, so far, every single thing I’ve introduced, it seems like they’ve picked up on it right away. They’re mentally focused, they’re attentive, and they’re working their butts off for me. I’m very excited about the group that I’m working with.”
Moss said he couldn’t have picked a better person to set the tone for the team than Fortner.
“Great kid, one of the best kids I’ve ever been around,” Moss said. “He’s my leader, my captain. He brings the energy, and when he’s not on the floor, you can tell the difference.”
A three-sport athlete who was the quarterback for the Northwest football team, Fortner has primarily played guard during his high school career, but as one of the team’s tallest players at 6-3, Fortner will likely fill many roles this winter.
“Seth will play a little bit of everything,” Moss said. “Last year, he was a guard, but this year he could potentially start a game at point guard and then move to my fourth spot. We’re going to ask a lot of him.”
Guard Trey Davis is the team’s only sophomore after playing about half of last season at the varsity level.
“He’s a very solid young player, and he should help us in multiple ways this year,” Moss said.
The remaining eight players are all juniors, including returning varsity players Conor Luca and Thomas Patient. Luca led Northwest in 3-point shooting attempts last year and made 42.6 percent of them, and Moss said Luca will pretty much have a green light to shoot the ball.
“Conor is the one guy who can step back a couple feet and it doesn’t seem to affect him much,” Moss said.
“He potentially could be our leading scorer, and if I can get him to buy into playing extremely hard on defense, he will be a very solid player. He definitely can light it up from deep.”
At 6-3, Patient will likely see a lot of time at center.
“He provides a lot of good things on offense,” Moss said. “He can pass the ball well out of the post, and he’s got good post moves, good touch around the basket.”
Kody Eddings will open at point guard.
“He’s a very good ball handler, and he makes very good basketball decisions,” Moss said.
Brad Hahn, who Moss said can shoot, defend and rebound the ball, will likely rotate between the shooting guard and small forward spots, while Hunter Lee will give the Lions some scoring at guard. Moss said forward Jack Watson will go 100 miles per hour every time he’s on the floor.
“I call him the Tasmanian devil,” Moss said. “He plays extremely hard, and he will do everything I ask him to do.”
Forward Devin Hudson is still working his way into shape after suffering a torn ACL each of the past two seasons, but Moss said Hudson is a very coachable player who will contribute when he’s healthy. Guard Terry Mitchelle will be eligible to play second semester, and Moss said Mitchelle is able to do some nice things at both ends of the court.
“If you came and watched practice, you’d probably say that he might be outworking everybody here,” Moss said. “He’s a well-built, strong kid, and he looks like he belongs on the varsity floor.”
Northwest will open the season at home Nov. 16 against De Soto and compete with Fox and Seckman in the Blue pool, the lowest of the four pools in the St. Louis Suburban Association.