Jackson Mosley, the ‘Last Chance U’ star, possesses the same ferocity as his father.
Before the second season dropped on Netflix, before fans were introduced to Bryan Penn-Johnson and Demetrius Calip II and new East Los Angeles College Huskies, coach John Mosley and his son Jackson sat down and binged the latest season of “Last Chance U: Basketball” with early access in two days.
His dad’s methods, Jackson said, have always been the same. Mosley has been getting players scholarships out of the junior college for a decade. But it hasn’t been until “Last Chance U” — which made Mosley a Netflix star with a documentary on his program — when those methods have been fully put on display.
The aggressive mimicking of defensive rotations that leaves players in stitches. The impassioned postgame speeches that begin as a whisper and end as a roar.
“Me and him always look back at it,” Jackson said of watching with his father. “And he always goes to himself, ‘Dang, did I really, actually do that?’”
The apple has yet to fall from the tree with Jackson, a senior point guard at La Canada St. Francis High. “Last Chance U” spends ample time delving into Mosley’s backstory, a point guard at L.A. Washington Prep and ELAC, explaining the origins of a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that is the undercurrent of the show’s themes of perseverance and redemption. And Mosley’s son, St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson said, is much the same.
Jackson’s a kid, as Wolfson said, who’s 5 feet 8 with some goggles. Hates being called small. Didn’t start for his eighth-grade team.
Yet he’s the four-year leader and engine of a 18-8 St. Francis team this season. The Golden Knights challenged Chatsworth Sierra Canyon on Wednesday through three quarters before falling 61-43.
“It’s fun to watch ‘Last Chance U’ because you see that fire in John and that ‘nobody gives me a shot’ kinda deal,” Wolfson said, “and Jackson’s the same way.”
Heading into high school, Jackson said, his dad challenged him if he truly wanted to pursue basketball. Jackson replied he’d do whatever it took. So Mosley taught him how to distribute as a floor general, how to defend, how to score in the flow of the offense.
It shows in Jackson’s game, he’s a pest with quick hands on defense with nifty touch and a variety of finishes around the rim. He led the team with 12 points against Sierra Canyon, the face of a program that continues to build a winning culture in the Mission League under Wolfson.
“I think we do it a little differently,” Wolfson said. “We don’t have five-stars and four-stars and three-stars. We just got good neighborhood kids that want to compete, and come to St. Francis to compete at a high level against high-level teams.”
Make no mistake, however, Jackson isn’t headed for a spot at ELAC or a starring role in a potential future installment of “Last Chance U.” Mosley isn’t taking him.
“He just said, ‘Get out,’” Jackson said, smiling, after Wednesday’s game. “‘I want college paid for.’”
Open look
With about two weeks until the end of the season, the Open Division contenders for eight playoff spots in the Southern Section are starting to take form.
Studio City Harvard-Westlake (22-1, coming off a win Friday over Sierra Canyon (18-5), Corona Centennial (19-3) and Santa Clarita West Ranch (23-1) look like locks. Torrance Bishop Montgomery (23-1) and Bellflower St. John Bosco (21-3) are also safe bets. Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier is confident his Trailblazers deserve a spot, but they’d likely need a win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (15-8) to secure that — and with the health of top scorers Bronny James and Isaiah Elohim uncertain, there’s intrigue down the stretch.
Sierra Canyon-Notre Dame at Pauley Pavilion on Friday will have huge playoff implications, as Notre Dame has taken West Ranch, Corona Centennial and Harvard-Westlake to close games but is 0-3. Don’t forget about Temecula Rancho Christian (13-7), which beat Sierra Canyon, and Playa del Rey St. Bernard (17-5), which beat Rancho Christian.
