The din of bouncing balls, squeaking shoes and an insistent coach are the staples of a basketball practice.
There are voices, too. Some come and go. Some are rarely heard.
And some are a constant, a source of steadiness and reliability through the natural meanderings of any season.
Sean Mosley’s voice is squarely in the latter category, as valued to first-year coach Mark Turgeon as his 11.1 points per game.
“He repeats everything I say,” Turgeon said. “He’s constantly on the guys. I have some immature guys that are tough to coach, and he’s helping me to coach them.”
Well, maybe he doesn’t repeat the occasional bad joke from Turgeon. But Mosley did laugh at one Saturday, all the more evidence Mosley is listening. It’s a trait Turgeon no doubt wishes would spread merely by osmosis.
It doesn’t work that way, of course, and that’s where the voice comes in.
It is heard in practice, in the locker room and in huddles. The only guy to start every game this season learned the lessons of how best to handle a college basketball season as a freshman and a sophomore, when Eric Hayes, Landon Milbourne and Greivis Vasquez helped the Terps reach consecutive NCAA tournaments.
For Mosley to do the same in his final season — and the Terps (12-4, 2-1 ACC) can earn a measure of credibility toward that aim with a win Tuesday at Florida State (11-6, 2-1) — he knows both volume and persistence are required.
“I played with some great players throughout my years in college and having Greivis and Landon and Eric on my team, they pretty much talked the whole practice,” Mosley said. “I just learned from them and it carries over.”
It doesn’t hurt when it also seeps into on-court play. While teaming with Hayes and Vasquez for the first half of his career, Mosley was a capable complementary player. With those two gone a year ago, he struggled.
It was no secret the Terps needed more from Mosley as a senior. He was and remains a vital link for Turgeon, who said before the season that besides his wife and children “there’s no one more important in my life than Sean Mosley right now.” The on-court production, though, is up as well.
His 18 points (16 in the second half) carried Maryland to a 61-50 defeat of Georgia Tech on Sunday. Mosley’s 3-pointer with 2:36 remaining gave the Terps a 57-50 edge and the necessary cushion to ensure the clock would be an ally the rest of the game.
He’s reached double figures in four straight games for the first time since the last four conference contests in 2009-10. Sunday also marked the first time Mosley led the Terps in scoring against an ACC team since he dropped 20 points on Clemson on Feb. 24, 2010, as part of Maryland’s season-ending charge toward a share of the conference regular season title.
He remembers that time well. Mosley owns four starts in NCAA tournament games. None of his teammates have ever played in the postseason (junior James Padgett didn’t appear in a pair of NCAA games two years ago, though he was on the roster).
“He’s been to the NCAA tournament, so he knows what it takes,” guard Terrell Stoglin said. “We’re just following his lead.”
It means taking note of Mosley playing on a bad ankle. It means celebrating a few impending milestones (Mosley needs two rebounds to have 500 for his career, and he’s 46 points shy of 1,000 overall).
And it means listening for an omnipresent voice more determined than ever for the Terps to have one more say before his career winds to a close.
• Patrick Stevens can be reached at pstevens@washingtontimes.com.
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