Michael O’Brien’s notebook: June 2, 2017

Orr rising senior Tyronn Mosley had a life-changing weekend in California. The athletic ability, length and potential that impressed in Peoria back in March dazzled coaches and evaluators at an Under Armour Association event in Garden City.

The 6-5 guard was one of the event’s breakout stars. Mosley caught the eye of Evan Daniels, the national evaluator for Scout.com. All the attention led to a scholarship offer from DePaul.

“That’s my first high offer,” Mosley said. “I was really excited to hear that. It makes me play better.”

Mosley was a crucial part of Orr’s run to the Class 2A state title. His size and athleticism made him a difficult matchup for any opponent. He showcased his perimeter skills playing for the Illinois Wolves last weekend.

“On the Wolves we don’t have as many scoring weapons as we do at Orr so I get to really shine,” Mosley said. “At Orr we ran our offense thru [Raekwon Drake] and [Danny Smith] so I got used to distributing the ball. With the Wolves there are a lot of screens and plays for me.”

Mosley now has interest from Tulsa, Purdue, Pitt, Missouri, Oklahoma State, St. Louis and Minnesota. He’s taking an unofficial visit to Illinois on Tuesday. Mosley is a good student, something most college coaches don’t expect from a player at Orr.

“I think that has hurt me a bit, been a little problem ” Mosley said. “Just that reputation. I’d like to start changing people’s minds about that.”

The Spartans are only losing one significant player to graduation. This week they added a key transfer, rising senior Chase Adams from Marian Catholic.

“I’ve known Chase a long time, he is exactly what we need,” Mosley said. “We actually have a point guard now. He’s a pass-first guy that is very good at penetrating.”

Orr are the heavy favorites to repeat in Class 2A next season. But Mosley says the goals are even bigger than that.

“We can win city and state,” Mosley said. “And we want to get a national ranking and compete for a national title.”

TRANSFER DEPARTMENT

Adams isn’t the only high-profile player that transferred this week. Rising senior Maurice Commander, the East Suburban Catholic Player of the Year, confirmed he has transferred from Marist to Curie. Commander joins Marquise Walker, who transferred to Curie from St. Joseph earlier this spring.

The Redhawks also lost rising senior Malik Onyeali. The guard is transferring to Hyde Park.

VERGE UPDATE

Sun-Times Player of the Year Alonzo Verge still has hopes of qualifying. The Thornton senior will take the ACT again later this month. Verge has been talking to UTEP and LSU a lot according to his mother, Tricia Moncrief.

COACHING CAROUSEL

Geneva has hired Scott Henning, a longtime assistant, to replace Phil Ralston.

“Henning is skilled at building the kind of relationships needed to run a strong successful athletic program and we look forward to having him at the helm,” Geneva Athletic Director Dave Carli said.

Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski and Oswego coach Matt Borrowman both announced that they are stepping down.