How this Peoria native ended up coaching at a small Illinois high school

Micheal Mosley got the itch to coach again.

Luckily, the Peoria native found the right job at almost exactly the right time.

After a four-season hiatus from coaching, Mosley was scheduled to officially be named the new Heyworth boys basketball head coach at Wednesday’s school board meeting. Heyworth is a 258-student school located about 50 miles southeast of Peoria in the McLean County village of the same name.

“I just thought, ‘Man, there’s a lot of opportunity’, and I think it’s a good fit,” the 1991 Manual grad said, “Great people. Great community, and I just decided to take a dive at it.”

Background: Micheal Mosley instills Peoria Manual values in Bloomington basketball

Landing in Heyworth

Mosley, who is an Information Security Manager at State Farm, inherits the Heart of Illinois Conference program that went 20-13 last season. The Hornets were 8-4 in league play, lost in a Class 1A regional semifinal and are set to return to all-conference players in Nick Feather and Alex Maas.

An upgraded gym and workout complex along with the convenience of Heyworth being less than 10 miles from his home were major selling points for Mosley.

“It came out of nowhere,” he said.

This coaching job comes following eight seasons at Bloomington from 2011-19, during which Mosley was 142-91 (.609) and led the Purple Raiders to a 2017 Class 3A third-place finish. Now, he’ll go from competing against predominately 3A and 4A teams to 1A and 2A squads.

“I know it’s going to be a challenge,” Mosley said of playing in the HOI, “and I know it will be adaptable for my style and that was really something that drew me to Heyworth. … I’m looking forward to the personal challenge in coaching in this conference as well, because I know coaches grind and they work you every night and every possession.

“I know the style of play that we play is exciting and obviously, we demonstrated that can put points on the board at Bloomington.”

The Manual coaching tree

Manual’s up-tempo style is rooted deep in Mosley.

He counts himself fortunate to have played for Dick Van Scyoc and Chuck Westendorf, while coaching against Wayne McClain when he was Champaign Central head coach. Former Manual coaches Derrick Booth and Willie Coleman were also on Mosley’s list of competitive counterparts.

Mosley also mentioned current Manual coach Marvin Jordan.

“Basketball in Peoria just never goes away from you,” he said, “and so it was just a blessing the fact you can be passionate about something, and it goes wherever you go.”

Background: Homegrown leadership for Manual basketball helps youth navigate surroundings

His time away from basketball was much needed, according to Mosley. He was able to complete a pair of dissertations for his doctorate degrees as well as deal with the death of his longtime assistant coach, Greg Patton, who passed away in the summer prior to the final season at Bloomington.

Also, the break allowed him to watch former players like Colton Sandage of Illinois State and Chris Payton, who plays at Kent State and was a part of this year’s NCAA tournament team.

Back on the sideline

But the call for Mosley to coach again became too strong.

“More than anything, I just missed practice and the month of June,” he said. “… Those are the two periods that I really, really missed.”

He says he’s spent the last week watching film on his new team and will introduce himself to them on Thursday afternoon. Mosley is still working out some of the details for summer like what shootouts Heyworth will attend.

Other 2023 basketball hires: Morton | East Peoria | Canton

More than anything, Mosley is excited about the possibilities his new players will bring.

“I’m looking forward to connecting 1-on-1 with them,” Mosley said, “and getting a chance to allow them to meet me, get to know me, get to know my style as I bring on a staff that’s going to be really influential in how they play and their lives because we’ll spend a lot of time together.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA basketball: Peoria native Micheal Mosley hired as coach at Heyworth