Hoop Dreams

For the star coach of the hit Netflix show Last Chance U: Basketball, the real winning happens off the court

- JIM HINCH

When basketball coach John Mosley got an offer to appear on television, his first thought was: No way. Bad idea.

It was 2019. John, 46 at the time, was head coach of the East Los Angeles College Huskies. East L.A. College educates a diverse student body in a working-class community far from the glitz of Hollywood.

Perennial losers, the Huskies had won just half their games the season before John’s 2012 arrival. Seven years later, they were conference leaders, vying for a regional championship.

The TV offer was for a hit Netflix documentary. Last Chance U spotlights scrappy college sports teams that never get to bask in the glow (or financial windfall) of NCAA glory.

“It was a cold call,” John says. Maybe another coach looking for his big break would have jumped at the chance to star in a television series watched around the world.

John had the opposite reaction. "I was scared," he says. Over decades in an up-and-down basketball career, he'd learned that one of his biggest spiritual challenges was pride. He was afraid he would end up like other Christians who appear on TV, let it go to their head and "start to show cracks in their faith."

He'd worked hard and made sacrifices to become a mentor to players with rough lives but lots of potential. He'd forged relationships, steered kids toward four-year colleges and turned an also-ran team into an engine of athletic and educational upward mobility.

What if he slipped up on national television? Or, worse, became a star and felt tempted to aim higher?

He called back the film crew to be polite. "Yeah, probably not," he said. Then something made him add: "But you could tell me more about it."