Former Abilene Christian standout Jared Mosley is no stranger to quality basketball in the Lone Star Conference.

Playing four seasons for ACU and winning the LSC's Player of the Year award back in 1999, Mosley isn't surprised to see so many great athletes and teams in one conference.

But seeing it all in one venue has been something new to Mosley and all followers of the Lone Star Conference, which moved the entire post-season tournament to Bartlesville, Okla.

"I think the neutral site really just adds an element that you can't get even on a home court," said Mosley, who is now in his fourth season as ACU's athletic director. "It really opens the tournament up for all the teams competing to have a chance to get to the championship. Also, just the added benefits of the things you can do like the community service events that our teams were involved with. The banquet for us to announce the all-conference teams - we never had a venue to do that. It really adds a championship element that a lot of our student-athletes deserve."

Mosley, a two-time All-LSC pick in 1998-99, is 12^th on the Wildcats' all-time scoring list with 1,457 points. After his playing days were completed, Mosley quickly returned to ACU where he was named the school's athletic director in 2005.

While Mosley oversees the entire ACU athletic department, he's excited to see how the league and its conference championship has grown, but also proud to see his alma mater participating in the event, too.

The ACU men's team qualified for the post-season tournament for the first time since 1998. The women's team has had much more recent success, and advancing to the conference tournament has been a regular occurrence.

However, this season Mosley watched both of his ACU basketball teams advance to the conference tournament semifinals. On the men's side, the Wildcats were upended by Texas A&M-Commerce 70-65, while ACU's women's team were knocked off by top-seed Central Oklahoma, 67-50.

"It was really good to come up here and see our teams play pretty well," Mosley said. "This was a great atmosphere and I'm really glad that our kids can be a part of this. It's been first-class all the way. The people of Bartlesville and (LSC Commissioner) Stan Wagnon and his staff deserve a lot of credit. I'm looking forward to coming back up here next year."

While Mosley said he's perfectly content with his current job, being only 10 years removed from his playing days, basketball isn't completely out of his system. 

"It's kind of hard, especially when ACU is in the tournament," Mosley said. "You kind of get that itch that you wish you could be out there. But it's been a good transition for me. I really enjoy what I'm doing down at ACU and really proud of the progress we've made in both our men's and women's programs."

Although ACU was upset by A&M-Commerce, a fourth-seed in the North that had two straight upsets before falling in the finals to UCO, Mosley said the Lions' improbable run brought back memories to his senior season of 1999.

Despite a high regional ranking all year, Abilene Christian did not qualify for the LSC tournament, finishing fifth in a loaded South Division.

However, the Wildcats managed to claim the sixth and final spot in the South Central Regional Tournament, held at Wichita Falls.

And that was all ACU would need. In a back-and-forth classic with rival West Texas A&M, the Wildcats managed to force overtime thanks to a 35-foot 3-pointer by Mosley as time expired. From there, ACU would outlast the Buffs in a triple-overtime thriller, 102-96.

"That was just an unbelievable game because we had had some great battles with West Texas that year," he said. "To be able to come in as the sixth seed, we thought we had no chance to get in the tournament. But we did and it was a great game. It's still fun to go back and watch that game."

Not only did ACU upset West Texas A&M, but the Wildcats then blew out No. 2 seed Pittsburg State, 79-59, before falling to Truman State, 76-69 in the finals.

Mosley said he couldn't help but think of that year when watching A&M-Commerce get hot here in the LSC Tournament.     

"It's very reminiscent of my senior season," Mosley said. "That's the thing about this time of year. Whoever is playing well can peak at the right time. But without a doubt, it reminds me of about 10 years ago."

Ten years later, Mosley can still reflect on a classic game from the regional tournament. That's exactly the kind of tradition the Lone Star Conference is trying to establish with the tournament here in Bartlesville.

Mosley

I think the neutral site really just adds an element that you can't get even on a home court. It really opens the tournament up for all the teams competing to have a chance to get to the championship. Also, just the added benefits of the things you can do like the community service events that our teams were involved with. The banquet for us to announce the all-conference teams - we never had a venue to do that. It really adds a championship element that a lot of our student-athletes deserve.