Terion Moss, Portland High’s 5-foot-10 point guard with superior vision, toughness and an innate feel for the game, knows he achieved something great with the Bulldogs.
He’s not talking about his personal sweep of the state’s top boys’ basketball honors or his decision to accept the University of Maine’s full scholarship, becoming new coach Richard Barron’s first key recruit.
“I think the most important thing we accomplished at Portland was a brotherhood,” Moss said. “We’re all family and we all look out for each other. We can count on each other.”
Portland always could count on Moss for excellence on the court. A two-time Gatorade Maine Player of the Year and this year’s Mr. Maine Basketball, Moss was the clear choice as the Maine Sunday Telegram Player of the Year. A four-year varsity player, he helped Portland compile a 76-8 record with three state-final trips, and Class AA titles in 2016 and 2017.
One of the few significant setbacks came in Moss’ final game. After going 17-1 in the regular season, Portland was upset by Windham in the regional semifinal.
“Sometimes I think about that game but we all came to play, it’s just that Windham had a good night shooting. They were a really good team,” Moss said.
This season Moss averaged 19.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.9 steals, and became the third Portland High player to reach 1,000 career points. When he splashed onto the scene as a sophomore, playing with his brother, Amir (the 2016 Telegram Player of the Year), Moss was known as a penetrating playmaker with a suspect outside shot.
He became a superior 3-point shooter with NBA range (40 makes on 42 percent shooting as a senior) thanks to putting up 300 shots a night at the Portland Boys and Girls Club.
“He’s one of the few players I’ve coached against where you could prep all you wanted to try to come up with ideas to slow him down but it wouldn’t matter,” said Edward Little Coach Mike Adams. “He was too good. The best part of his game was he made the players around him better.”
Now comes the challenge of proving he can play in Division I.
Portland Coach Joe Russo believes Moss can succeed, for a variety of reasons, including that Moss is a true point guard.
“He plays much bigger than (5-10) because of his savvy, his ball-handling skills, his quickness, his leaping ability and his defense,” Russo said. “He can not only play that position, he can defend that position.”
Russo said Moss is also a student of the game who will soak up instructions.
Moss said he took notice of Barron’s new coaching staff, which includes Edniesha Curry, believed to be the only woman full-time assistant on a Division I men’s basketball staff.
“I looked at their profiles and I really liked it, and I can’t wait for them to coach me,” Moss said.
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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