The pass from Ohio State past to Ohio State present was true. Pushing the ball up the Ohio Dominican University court, former Buckeyes guard Ron Lewis spied an opportunity and fired the ball to John “Juni” Mobley Jr. , a fellow Columbus native just about to get his college career started.
Teammates playing in Sunday’s Kingdom Summer League championship game with team Flex X Pro, Mobley took the pass, faded to his left and fired from beyond the 3-point line. Befitting the nickname “Action-Packed” that in-game announcer Davonne Folks called out over the microphone, Mobley buried the shot as part of a 15-6 run to open the game against two-time reigning champions Committed To My Craft.
It proved to be the high point for both Mobley and his team. After trailing for the entirety of the first three quarters, Committed To My Craft took the lead on the first possession of the fourth quarter and held on for a 91-90 win.
For Mobley, who finished 2 for 13 from the floor with 5 points, it was a second title-game loss in as many years .
“I was a little sore, but it’s no excuses, for real,” he said. “Just couldn’t get it going. I tried to help in different ways. … Just had a slow start.”
Knee-deep in a strenuous offseason regiment, Mobley woke up Sunday morning and wasn’t scheduled to play in the final game of the 10th season of the league. That changed later in the day and Mobley, who said he has been going through three-a-day workouts during the week, never got going against a team led by Wisconsin product D’Mitrik Trice.
Early in the second quarter, Trice sniffed out a Mobley pass on a fast break and nabbed it for a quick bucket. Moments later, Mobley managed to shake a defender and get to the rim only to have his layup attempt blocked by a bigger defender.
His only other make came at the 7:43 mark of the third quarter, when he sunk a jumper from the left baseline. As his team fought to overcome a fourth-quarter deficit, Mobley had two attempts at game-tying 3-pointers in the final six minutes but missed on each.
Among the three former Buckeyes, Lewis led the way with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Woods added 11 on 4-of-8 shooting. Of Mobley’s 13 shots, eight were 3-pointers.
It was a quiet unofficial ending to Mobley’s summer. In a prior Kingdom Summer League appearance, he put up 33 points while playing a team led by Ohio State teammate Bruce Thornton and Michigan product Trey Burke . Sunday, he was the only current Buckeye around as most of the roster has dispersed home for a break before returning for fall semester.
“Summer was good,” Mobley said. “I feel like we got better as a team. Good chemistry. I feel like we’re going to do some big things this season.”
Mobley said he felt he grew the most as a communicator this summer as his coaches and teammates have encouraged him to use his voice more. In individual workouts, Mobley said he spent the most time with new assistant coaches Talor Battle and Jamall Walker and especially enjoyed going back-and-forth with Battle, Penn State’s all-time leading scorer.
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“That’s my dog,” Mobley said of Battle. “We’re real close. When we work, we work hard. Sometimes in practice he plays, but he already know what it is. He was tough at Penn State.”
He’s also gotten to know Ques Glover, a late-summer addition to the roster expected to provide backcourt depth. After losing Taison Chatman to a season-ending ACL injury, the Buckeyes added Glover, a veteran transfer with stops at Florida, Samford, BYU and Kansas State .
“It’s fun,” he said of adding Glover to the mix. “He’s starting to learn all our concepts, how we work and stuff like that. We haven’t done a team workout yet, but when we come back, I feel like that will be fun to have him as part of the team. (He brings) a lot of energy. Buckets. I feel like he’s a good value to the team. I think that was a great pickup and I’m ready to play with him this season.”
Before that happens, Mobley said he’ll continue working out and staying ready for when the team reassembles for fall workouts. He’s got some lofty goals.
“The grind never stops,” he said. “I’m trying to make a big impact this season for our team. Want to get championships, Big Ten championship, national championship, and I feel like I can help do that.”
ajardy@dispatch.com
@AdamJardy
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: After Kingdom title-game loss, John 'Juni' Mobley ready for Ohio State season to start
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