Every day when Jagan Mosely woke up before taking the hour and a half trip from his Morganville home to St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, he saw one word taped to his bathroom mirror — "unknown."
The Friars guard placed a piece of paper on the mirror after attending a Nike Top 100 camp workshop that suggested he put a word there that he felt described himself and would provide motivation.
"I thought at the time that I was kind of underrated. No really knew what I could do on the court," Mosely said. "I felt as though I was the underdog my whole life. I'm kind of used to it now, but it just made work harder day by day, trying to prove people wrong."
By the end of his high school career, Jagan Mosely was anything but unknown. He leaves St. Anthony as a state champion and the NJ.com Player of the Year for 2015-16.
Mosely secured his college future last summer when he committed to Georgetown. But he knew he couldn't leave St. Anthony without a state title — a trophy that had evaded him in his first three seasons. Mosely and his fellow seniors entered this season at risk of going down in infamy as the only class to spend four years with coach Bob Hurley to not win one. He changed his uniform number to zero this season to remind him of that absence.
That numeral would be matched by St. Anthony's loss total.
The future Hoya averaged 14.2 points per game to lead St. Anthony, and saved his best performances of the season for the team's biggest games as it went 32-0 on the season for the eighth perfect season in program history. More important than that, though, was the fact that the Friars got revenge on the team that ended its previous three seasons by finally topping Roselle Catholic in the Non-Public B final as Mosely scored nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. The Friars' culminated their perfect season by knocking off Linden to win the school's 13th Tournament of Champions crown.
While Mosely's future in the Big East is at the guard position, injuries forced him to play power forward for the Friars as they made their tournament run. With his strength, athleticism and versatility being his biggest assets, Mosely was able to make a smooth transition and keep St. Anthony winning.
"I started my career off playing the four my freshman year, so it's kind of weird how it ended like this," Mosely said. "I feel I bring leadership to my team. It didn't always show in the stat sheet, I don't really put up big numbers. But I'm a big part of the team. And whatever I can do to help my team win, I will do."
At the team's tip-off dinner before the start of the season, a former Friars player told the current players that they wouldn't be able to compare their squad to previous St. Anthony teams until they won a state title.
Their mission for the school's 28th group championship complete, Mosely and his teammates have now joined St. Anthony lore and the discussion can begin.
"I wanted to get coach Hurley his 28th title for the longest," Mosely said. "And I finally got it."
Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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