Pacific Index

Playing professional basketball was his dream; dropping everything to take the role as a coach was the last thing on his mind

Alumn Ethan Moss started his college basketball career in 2018. The six-foot point guard from Los Angeles was beyond excited to start his journey with the Pacific basketball program. After arriving at Pacific, Moss described his first year on the team as “very frustrating.” He was one of the few players that had the determination to be bought in and work for the greater good of the team. “I didn’t come in expecting to play much too much, but because the team was kind of a mess, I ended up starting probably half the games,” Moss explained. He averaged 4.9 points for the 2018-19 season, along with an average of 1.4 rebound points, and 2.1 points for assists on the season. 

The culture and drive as a team collective wasn’t where they needed to be in Moss’s freshman year as a Boxer, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit during his sophomore year, it turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise. The unexpected downtime gave the team a chance to rebuild the team’s unity and rediscover its passion for the game. Moss also used that period to recover from a serious injury: an ACL tear to his left knee. Once the dust settled from COVID and Moss recovered from his knee injury, he was able to play his junior year in the winter of 2020-21. Moss recorded an average of 10.1 points per game, 3.8 rebound points, and 2.8 assists for the season. 

Moving forward in his college career, Moss would face more adversity with another ACL tear to his right knee during his senior season. This unfortunate injury allowed him to be eligible for a medical redshirt year, which he took for his fifth year at Pacific. Moss recovered from his injury right in time for season and shared that he thought it was almost too soon. “I would say I came back a bit early.” Moss admitted. “The whole year I started to battle injuries and my body never felt quite 100 percent the whole season.”

Looking back on all his time at Pacific, Moss couldn’t be more grateful for how it turned out. “Overall, with my time at Pacific, my junior year was my best year statistically and I started looking at playing overseas,” Moss recalled. “I needed to play professionally, so I actually ended up doing a summer internship in Israel the summer between my junior and senior year.” This connection would serve helpful later for Moss as he earned the opportunity to play professionally in Israel after graduating from Pacific University.

Moss traveled to Israel on August 23, 2023, and a month and a half into living abroad war broke out. “There’s always something going on in that part of the world, but the war (Gaza) officially started on October 7, 2023,” Moss said quietly. “I was freaking out.” He recalled that he was sort of stranded there with no plane or boat available to leave, yet he soon felt more comfortable with the support of his coaches and management. Although they weren’t able to play any games at the time, the team continued to train and practice. He officially started his professional career in January 2024 with the Israel team, Inter Aliyah Club, competing in the Israeli Basketball League.

“I had a really good start to the season, but halfway through the year we hit a wall and started losing a lot,” Moss explained. He went on to share that players started to stack on injuries and some even had to leave for war, so the team management decided to change things up. “They looked to trade me and I ended up at a team in a big city, Tel Aviv,” said Moss. The new team he had joined was the Hapoel Lod in the Liga Alef league.

“Being in the bigger city was awesome,” Moss said with a smile. “I was six minutes from the beach, the nightlife was good, and basketball was great!” While being on the team, Moss worked on the side as a barista and then a sales representative to make extra money. Moss explained how the days were long with a morning lift, a nine to five job, and then night practice. It got to a point where he was exhausted. After a few months of this grueling routine, it started to take a major toll on the point guard’s body. “The season had come to an end and I was planning on continuing with the team, but I started to notice that the past couple of months of going to practice had started becoming a drag,” Moss recalled. “And I have never felt that way before about basketball. I knew I wanted to pivot.” 

Fortunately an offer came at the best time. “I was already in a bit of a rut when another war broke out,” Moss shared. “I was in and out of bomb shelters and was ready to go home.” After a week or so there was a ceasefire and life went back to normal in his town of Israel. The feeling had left him mentally drained and he couldn’t continue his life like normal. Stuck in routine, Moss went on as usual. Working at his sales rep job and training, until one day he got a text from his college coach Justin Lunt. The text read something like, “Hey, you want to coach?” Moss had thought Coach Lunt was offering him a grad assistant position or something of the sorts but didn’t expect a full assistant coach role. Moss responded, “Send me the details.” And that’s when he was drawn back to Pacific University.

“It really took me only a week or two to really think about it, really weigh the pros and cons,” said Moss. “Coach Lunt and I got on a call and that’s where it really started to click for me.” Coaching had always been something that Moss had taken to, but he thought the coaching part of his life would come later on. “The opportunity came at a time where I was already feeling it in my body and playing wasn’t going my way,” Moss shared. “I knew that it was the best possible time to go.” Moss got a flight home to Los Angeles a few weeks later, visited his family, and then made his way back to Forest Grove.

“I was kind of thrown right into the fire,” Moss said happily. “I haven’t been here for long yet, but I feel like I am already finding my voice as a coach.” He shares that it has been an amazing experience to watch the young men grow as athletes and individuals. Learning alongside his former coach, Lunt has been one of the main highlights of his new job. He is excited to learn more and jump into the season. “Basketball gave me a great platform to express myself and be serious about something, but also be goofy and grow as a person,” Moss shared. “Coming back here as a coach made me realize this even more and I have so many experiences to talk about and reflect on with my players.” Moss is “obsessed” with the game in many ways, and believes that his drive and passion for the sport in every way is what pushes him as a coach.