This recent commit to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) put in work as a defensive end for the Dorsey Dons football team. With the distinct intellect to discern where the ball carrier is and the nimble agility to match their speed pace for pace, Timothy Mosley can stop offensive plays in their tracks.
Mosley is also a stalwart in the classroom, flaunting a coveted 3.7 GPA. Math is his subject of choice; his most recent class being pre-Calculus.
“I [have] always been good at math, so it’s always been my favorite subject,” Mosley said. “No matter what the school, I’m always top of my class at math.”
Throughout the season, Mosley was getting recruited by schools. Purdue and California showed interest while Arizona and UNLV gave him offers, according to 247 Sports. With the attention from schools, came attention from other high school teams.
“I’m like on other team’s radar because I’m being recruited,” Mosley said. “It’s like a difference from last year, nobody knew who I was coming into this season.”
The attention brought pressure, but Mosley decided to focus on improving his gameplay and not focusing on said pressure. Mosley’s book smarts kept him a high performer in the classroom, but self-motivation helps him endure through sports and school work.
“You got to have integrity, you have to do stuff for yourself sometime,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t really rely on people to tell you what to do. That’s what a lot of people do, they rely on other people getting on them to do their stuff.”
Mosley put up impressive numbers during the 2016 season with 30 tackles, six tackles for loss, nine sacks and two forced fumbles, 247 Sports reports.
Football came into Mosley’s life when he was 10 years old, he played for the L.A. South East Panthers Pop Warner team. Through the years, his father was a key driving force for Mosley. Using the wisdom gained from having a checkered past, he worked to keep Mosley on the straight and narrow.
“He just made sure I never was really in the streets, he made sure I was always doing something,” Mosley said. “He’s just been coming to my games since Pop Warner.”
Mosley also suited up for the boys’ basketball team this season, gaining a season-high of six points in the Don’s 85-65 win over Locke in early February.
He noted how academics played a major role in being recruited to colleges and advises young athletes to not put themselves in a position of having to make up classes during their senior year. A low core GPA can repel recruiters from showing interest.
“You got to make sure you take care of your academics early because a lot of dudes, they don’t realize in a couple of years, they [are] gonna be trying to get recruited,” Mosley said.
Although it’s not his favorite subject, Mosley mentioned how English class helps him the most during game time situations. English classes taught Mosley how to think critically, he applies this during football games.
“People think football is just all instinct and athleticism and physicality, but it’s really not,” Mosley said. “When someone can outthink you in football, they can still beat you on a play … no matter how fast or how strong you are.”
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