Video: The last minute of the Kingdom Summer League championship game
The team Committed To My Craft prevails against the team Flex X Pro in the championship match of the Kingdom Summer League on August 11, 2024.
Ohio State’s pass to the present was spot on. Former Buckeyes guard Ron Lewis pushed the ball onto the Ohio Dominican University field, sensed an opportunity and fired the ball to John “June” Mobley Jr., another Columbus native just starting his college career.
Mobley, a teammate who played with Team Flex X Pro in Sunday’s Kingdom Summer League championship game, took the pass, dodged left and shot from beyond the 3-point line. Befitting his nickname “Action-Packed,” which game commentator Davonne Folks called out over the microphone, Mobley sank the shot as part of a 15-6 run to open the game against two-time defending champion Committed To My Craft.
This was the high point for Mobley and his team. After trailing for the first three quarters, Committed To My Craft took the lead on their first possession of the fourth quarter and held it until the 91-90 victory.
For Mobley, who sank 2 of 13 shots and scored 5 points, it was the second loss in a title game in just a few years.
“I was in a little bit of pain, but that’s really no excuse,” he said. “I just didn’t get it going. I tried to help in different ways. … Just got off to a slow start.”
Mobley was in the midst of a grueling offseason workout routine on Sunday morning and wasn’t scheduled to play in the final game of the league’s 10th season. That changed later in the day and Mobley, who said he practiced three times a day during the week, never got going against a team led by Wisconsin’s D’Mitrik Trice.
Early in the second quarter, Trice sensed a pass from Mobley on a quick break and grabbed it for a quick basket. Moments later, Mobley was able to shake off a defender and get to the basket, but his layup attempt was blocked by a bigger defender.
His only other goal came 7:43 into the third quarter, sinking a jump shot from the left baseline. As his team struggled to overcome a fourth-quarter deficit, Mobley had two attempts at tying the game with three-pointers in the final six minutes, but missed both.
Among the three former Buckeyes, Lewis was the best player with 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting, while Woods added 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting. Of Mobley’s 13 shots, eight were 3-pointers.
It was a quiet, unofficial conclusion to Mobley’s summer. In an earlier Kingdom Summer League appearance, he scored 33 points while playing against a team led by Ohio State teammate Bruce Thornton and Michigan’s Trey Burke. On Sunday, he was the only current Buckeye, as most of the roster’s players have gone home for a break before returning for the fall semester.
“It’s been a good summer,” Mobley said. “I feel like we’ve gotten better as a team. Good chemistry. I feel like we’re going to do great things this season.”
Mobley said he felt he developed the most as a communicator this summer, as his coaches and teammates encouraged him to use his voice more. During one-on-one workouts, he spent most of his time with new assistant coaches Talor Battle and Jamall Walker, and especially enjoyed interacting with Battle, Penn State’s all-time leading scorer.
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“That’s my dog,” Mobley said of Battle. “We’re very close. When we work, we work hard. Sometimes he plays in practice, but he already knows what it is. He was tough at Penn State.”
He also got to know Ques Glover, who was added to the squad in late summer to provide more depth in the backcourt. After Taison Chatman was out for the season with an ACL injury, the Buckeyes brought in Glover, an experienced transfer who has played at Florida, Samford, BYU and Kansas State.
“It’s fun,” he said of adding Glover to the team. “He’s slowly learning all of our concepts, how we work and stuff like that. We haven’t had any team practices yet, but when we get back, it’s going to be fun to have him as part of the team. (He brings) a lot of energy. Buckets. I think he’s an asset to the team. I think it was a great signing and I’m ready to play with him this season.”
Until then, he will continue to train and be ready when the team reconvenes for fall practice, Mobley said. He has some lofty goals.
“The hard work never stops,” he said. “I’m trying to have a big impact on our team this season. We want to win championships, the Big Ten championship, the national championship, and I feel like I can help do that.”
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