Valparaiso High School senior John Mosser has secured an opportunity to play his college basketball at Air Force Academy. Next year, he will attend Air Force’s Prep School, with plans of attending the academy the following four years. Mosser has been a standout on the Vikings’ basketball floor throughout his high school career. He racked up many accolades, including being named to the All-Conference team this past season.
The end of his senior year provides a bittersweet time for Mosser, who is savoring his final moments at VHS. His decision to attend Air Force Academy went beyond just athletics.
“When I was first contacted by the Air Force Academy, that made me real interested in them, just because I heard a lot of good things about the armed services and what they do for people,” Mosser said. “I will get to compete on a great team in a great conference. It went past basketball really, the fact that I could be a second lieutenant by the time I graduated from the academy, that was outstanding.”
While at Valpo, he has enjoyed taking part in the school’s rich athletic history.
“I think the whole coaching staff played for Valpo,” Mosser said. “Everyone there knows what the tradition is at Valpo. We had a great head coach, Joe Otis, who knew a lot about the Valpo tradition. All those guys know a lot about that Valpo tradition.”
Otis, who stepped down as the boys head coach following this season to take the same position with the girls team, provided his team with many stories from his years of coaching high school basketball in Indiana.
“Coach Otis had a lot of good stories that you could relate to, certain events that happened,” he said. “Moments that you think aren’t possible, that actually happened. He was pretty vocal at some points. He really stressed for us to shoot the ball with confidence.”
Otis’s guidance helped Mosser and the Vikings to an 18-5 record and an appearance in the sectional championship during his senior season. Reaching the sectional title game was just one of many great basketball memories that Mosser made, both on and off the court, during his time at VHS.
“Just the locker room memories that I made with a lot of those teammates,” he said. “Not just this year, but in years past, I was able to participate in the locker room with those guys. All the way down to my freshman year, I have memories of those teams.”
Mosser is a leader both on the court and in the classroom, serving as the President of Calculus Club. He said that several members of the basketball team took calculus this year. In his spare time, Mosser roots for his favorite professional sports teams, the Bulls, Blackhawks and Cubs.
Mosser’s biggest inspiration is his father.
“The person who has been the rock of my whole life would have to be my dad,” Mosser said. “He’s been with me through the good days and the bad days. He’s really helped me develop into the person I am today.”