Justice Shelton-Mosley wasn’t just a grid-hooper; he could do it all in versatile ways in both sports and is a born leader. Photos: Mark Tennis & Paul Muyskens.
Our cavalcade of 2014-15 school year honors begins with our annual look at the state’s best grid-hoop players, led by Grid-Hoop State Player of the Year Justice Shelton-Mosley from Capital Christian of Sacramento. It will continue with all of the post-season picks for baseball and softball and conclude with annual State School of the Year and State Athlete of the Year recognition.
For a look at this year’s All-State Grid-Hoop Teams, CLICK HERE.
Note: We’ve been selecting grid-hoop all-state teams since the 1986-1987 school year when the San Diego Section Player of the Year in both sports, Junior Seau, was named Grid-Hoop State Player of the Year. Since the immortal Seau was selected, other combo athletes we’ve honored as Grid-Hoop POY include Willie McGinest, Tony Gonzalez, Marcedes Lewis and Matt Barnes. We are in the process of archiving all of our all-state teams online, including all the Grid-Hoop all-state teams. To access those, you need to be a member of our Gold Club. It’s a great deal and will be less than $2 per month for a limited time only. Join our team today by CLICKING HERE.
In talking to Justice Shelton-Mosley from Capital Christian of Sacramento, it’s similar to hearing words when Jeremy Lin was starring in basketball at Palo Alto.
Sure, the sports stuff is great, but young men like Justice who are headed to Harvard may have more to offer the world in general. Lin eventually did make it into the NBA, but it’s not going to be a surprise to anyone who knew him from his high school days if he still becomes a famous doctor, lawyer or accomplish basically anything he wants to do.
Shelton-Mosley elicits the same responses from the coaches he has had at Capital Christian.
“He’s a special human being who has changed a lot of lives on our campus,” Capital Christian football goach Phil Grams told the Sacramento Bee in a story written by Bill Paterson last December. “You realize that you could be looking at someone who could be president of the United States someday.”
Grams watched as Shelton-Mosley led Capital Christian to a 13-1 record last fall and a berth in the CIF NorCal Division IV bowl game. The Cougars also made it to the CIF Division IV state title game in basketball. And with Shelton-Mosley being a standout in both sports for three years, he’s now being singled out as the 2014-15 Grid-Hoop State Player of the Year.
The annual Grid-Hoop all-state teams traditionally lead off the end-of-school year honors for Cal-Hi Sports and have been done since the 1979-80 school year.
Shelton-Mosley is the second straight Grid-Hoop State POY from the Sacramento area, following Alex Van Dyke from Cosumnes Oaks of Elk Grove for 2013-14. Others from the region who’ve been selected are Matt Barnes from Del Campo of Fair Oaks (1997-98) and the brother duo of Reggie Rogers and the late Don Rogers from Norte Del Rio of Sacramento (1982, 1980). New Oakland Raiders’ head coach Jack Del Rio (Hayward) was the pick for 1981 in between the Rogers’ brothers.
In his football career at Capital Christian, Shelton-Mosley piled up almost 7,000 yards of multi-purpose yardage and scored 88 touchdowns. He had 1,908 yards rushing as a senior with 29 TDs and also had six interceptions with 70 tackles on defense.
As a football recruit, Shelton-Mosley had offers from most of the Pac-12 Conference primarly as a defensive back, but chose Harvard for academics. He had a 4.21 GPA at Capital Christian and numerous other academic honors.
After the successful football season (he was all-state small schools), Shelton-Mosley hit the court. Following a junior season in which he started for a team that played Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland in the CIF NorCal Open Division final, he averaged 12.3 points with 2.6 assists and led the team in steals. He had 21 points in the NorCal D4 semifinals against Marin Catholic of Kentfield. The Cougars ended up in the D4 state final where they lost to Crespi of Encino.
Alex Van Dyke from Cosumnes Oaks of Elk Grove was last year’s top grid-hooper. He’s now at UCLA. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Cal-Hi Sports Grid-Hoop
State Players of the Year
2014-15 – Justice Shelton-Mosley, Sacramento Capital Christian
2013-14 – Alex Van Dyke, Elk Grove Cosumnes Oaks
2012-13 – Max Redfield, Mission Viejo
2011-12 – William Stallworth, Tulare
2010-11 – William Stallworth, Tulare (Jr.)
2009-10 – Victor Dean, San Diego Lincoln
2008-09 – James Boyd, Los Angeles Jordan
2007-08 – Nelson Rosario, Oceanside El Camino
2006-07 – Rob Jones, San Francisco Riordan
2005-06 – David Ausberry, Lemoore
2004-05 – Danny Williams, Los Angeles Fremont
2003-04 – Marcus Everett, West Hills Chaminade
2002-03 – Steve Smith, Woodland Hills Taft
2001-02 – Marcedes Lewis, Long Beach Poly
2000-01 – Antwon Guidry, San Jose Leigh
1999-00 – Teyo Johnson, San Diego Mira Mesa
1998-99 – Josh Shavies, Oakland Fremont
1997-98 – Matt Barnes, Fair Oaks Del Campo
1996-97 – Jason Thomas, Compton Dominguez (Jr.)
1995-96 – Chris Claiborne, Riverside J.W. North
1994-95 – Johnnie Sanders, Los Angeles Franklin
1993-94 – Tony Gonzalez, Huntington Beach
1992-93 – Stais Boseman, Inglewood Morningside
1991-92 – Stais Boseman, Inglewood Morningside (Jr.)
1990-91 – Rob Johnson, El Toro
1989-90 – Willie McGinest, Long Beach Poly
1988-89 – Shante Carver, Stockton Lincoln
1987-88 – Eric Bamberger, Concord Ygnacio Valley
1986-87 – Junior Seau, Oceanside
1985-86 – Dan McGwire, Claremont
1984-85 – Michael Johnson, Baldwin Park
1983-84 – Jerald Jones, Vallejo
1982-83 – John Paye, Atherton Menlo School
1981-82 – Reggie Rogers, Sacramento Norte Del Rio
1980-81 – Jack Del Rio, Hayward
1979-80 – Don Rogers, Sacramento Norte Del Rio
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of Cal-Hi Sports. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
