Iowa's Isaiah Moss: Red-shirt season was beneficial

IOWA CITY — Isaiah Moss began his Iowa basketball career behind his teammates on the court and in the classroom.

Moss didn't arrive on campus until days before the fall semester, so he missed summer workouts with the coaching staff. Moss also didn't have the luxury of taking summer courses, so he lacked that early adjustment to university life.

So when Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery approached Moss about redshirting, the freshman from Chicago was apprehensive. He spoke with his parents and teammate Jarrod Uthoff, who red-shirted his first season at Wisconsin. Ultimately, Moss chose that option.

It was difficult for Moss to watch his teammates perform while he sat on the bench in a suit. But now he views his red-shirt season as his best option.

'It was like a blessing in disguise,' Moss said. 'It gave me a lot of time to work on things.

'The red-shirt season was great for me. It gave me a lot of time to improve on things I needed to improve on and just better my game.'

Moss, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, competed for Chicago's renowned Simeon High School, where he played alongside two other Big Ten recruits. Forward Ed Morrow, a 6-7 power forward, put up 4.1 points and 13.7 minutes a game for Nebraska. D.J. Williams, a 6-7 combo guard, started two games but averaged just 11 minutes and 2.1 points a game for Illinois.

Both players expected to make greater contributions last year for their teams.

'Seeing them not getting the minutes they wanted to get made me really think and made me thankful I red-shirted,' Moss said.

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Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said the extra year already has benefitted Moss' all-around game.

'I think it was critical for him, just to try to figure it out, just learn the offense, just figure out the defensive concepts,' McCaffery said. 'He's a terrific athlete with a pretty complete skill set. He can shoot it, he can drive it, he's got incredible burst. He's one of those guys who's going to be a really good player for us next year. But I think as time goes on, his upside is more dramatic. I'm excited.'

Moss spent the season on the scout team so he didn't develop a specific role in Iowa's offense. He sees himself as an off-guard, which appears his natural position. Moss had to guard junior Peter Jok every day in practice, which forced him to become a better defender. Moss also faced senior Anthony Clemmons, who was just as a difficult.

'In the beginning, it was kind of rough for me,' Moss said. 'But as the season went on, I built a lot of confidence and I saw myself getting better.'

The comparisons of Moss with former Iowa star Devyn Marble are natural. Both players have length and raw skills and wore the jersey No. 4. But Moss has a ways to go to equal what Marble eventually brought the Iowa program.

'Marble was a little ahead of Isaiah,' McCaffery said. 'He was ahead of Isaiah in terms of his game. But Isaiah is a really good 3-point shooter and very few people have the burst that he does to go by people and then when he gets to the rim to explode above the rim. Those are pretty spectacular gifts to have. He's got them.

'He just has to tighten up his game a little bit and change speeds a little bit. He's always going 100 miles an hour. When he slows down and then uses that incredible speed, he'll be that much more effective.'

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