Though it is not official yet, news came down on Friday that Mike Moser, formerly of UCLA and most recently of UNLV, may wind up at Washington for the 2013-14 season. He’s expected to graduate from UNLV this summer, making him eligible to play his final season immediately in Seattle. There remains a chance he will make himself eligible for the NBA Draft this season, according to Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports, but most likely he will spend his final season of collegiate eligibility playing for Lorenzo Romar. Aside from the fact that this would make for a wild, back-and-forth college career for the 6’8” combo forward, it gives Romar and the Huskies a much needed talent boost as they try to earn their way back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons.
After Stops At UCLA and UNLV, Mike Moser May Be Wrapping Up His College Career At Washington (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Huskies lose Abdul Gaddy, Aziz N’Diaye, and Scott Suggs from this year’s middle-of-the-Pac team, but with wing C.J. Wilcox expected back for his senior campaign (although he has submitted paperwork to he NBA Undergraduate Committee to gauge potential interest if he were to leave school early), and with McDonald’s All-American Nigel Williams-Goss expected to step right into the starting point guard spot, the addition of Moser could put the Huskies back into the conversation in the Pac-12. Coming on the heels of a miss on highly regarded recruit Aaron Gordon, the addition of Moser would go a long way towards patching an athleticism gap on this team. He had a nightmare of a junior season in Vegas, where a dislocated elbow conspired with his inability to play effectively alongside freshman phenom Anthony Bennett knocked Moser from preseason All-American consideration down to a guy who averaged just seven points and six rebounds per game (huge drops from his 14/10 averages as a sophomore. Still, he is a long and lanky athlete with a great nose for a rebound, the ability to knock down threes and the frame to be a terrific and disruptive defender.
One area for concern is the fact that Moser, despite the fact that he is projected as a small forward at the next level, has been most comfortable at the power forward in his college career. During his breakout sophomore campaign, he played the four almost exclusively (although he did step away from the basket on a regular basis), and during his down junior year, he was often tried at the three. For the sake of his future, Moser may want to spend time proving he can play the wing, but for the sake of the Huskies’ success next season, he should be locked in at the four. The 2013-14 Huskies are going to be a much smaller team, with San Francisco-transfer Perris Blackwell, Shawn Kemp, Jr., Desmond Simmons, and Jernard Jarreau making up the frontcourt rotation. None of those guys are particularly well-suited to play the five, but one of them is going to have to. And while Wilcox would be better off playing the shooting guard position, it looks like he will have to be slotted in at the three in order to get the most talent on the floor at the same time. All told, let’s peg Williams-Goss and sophomore-to-be Andrew Andrews into the backcourt, with Wilcox at the three, Moser at the four, and whoever wins the battle in camp for the undersized five spot. Backcourt depth will be provided by a pair of incoming freshmen (Darin Johnson and Jahmel Taylor) and a JuCo transfer – Mike Anderson.