Zachary Moss is entering is first season as Head Men’s Basketball coach for St. Thomas University. Moss was the Associate Head Coach for the previous 3 seasons with the Bobcats.
During Moss’ time with the Bobcats, he has been instrumental in transforming STU men’s basketball into a nationally recognized program. The Bobcats have gone to back to back national tournaments, sweet sixteen appearance, conference regular season championship, and host site for the first 2 rounds of the national tourney. Hosting the first round and multiple wins in national tournament are first for the STU program.
Moss has had a huge part in the recruitment and development that has led to overall program success and individual success. In 3 years, STU has had 8 1st team All-Conference and 4 2nd team All-conference, most by any program. There have been 2 Bobcats who have been named All-American, Fred Mulbah and Milton Matthews, with Matthews being named back to back years. Bobcat players also filled up the stat sheet under Moss’ guidance. Fred Mulbah lead the NAIA in ast in 2022-2023, Dalon Dean led nation in 3pt makes in 2022-2023, with Milton Matthews behind him. In 2023-2024, Milton led the nation in 3pt makes.
Prior to arriving at St. Thomas, Coach Moss spent seven seasons as the Associate Head Men’s Basketball coach for Ave Maria University, from 2013-2020. Coach Moss was instrumental in helping build Ave Maria into a nationally respected program and helping them win their first-ever conference tournament and first national tournament appearance in 2019. Coach Moss was in charge of all scouting and game planning at AMU, leading them to multiple top-ten finishes in a wide range of areas. AMU finished seasons ranked; #1 in Total Rebounding, #2 in Scoring Defense, #7 in Field Goal Percentage in 2014-2015, and #1 in 3-point percentage defense in 2018-2019. Moss’ influence also produced offense success for AMU, as AMU finished in the top ten in 3 point makes during his final two seasons. Coach Moss was in charge of recruiting and player development at Ave Maria. Moss’s tireless work ethic built strong relationships not just throughout the state of Florida but nationally and internationally.
Moss signed and developed the majority of the all-conference players that have played at Ave Maria. Recent AMU All-Conference players who Moss recruited and developed; Deonte Dixon from the state of Washington, Fernando Salsamendi from Brazil, Gianpaolo Riccio from Italy (currently playing professionally in Italy), Romello Bates from Orlando, and Marcus Montalvo from Miami all were impactful in turning AMU into a nationally ranked program. None, however, was as impactful as Ave Maria’s only two-time All-American Leo Behrend from Idaho, who led Ave Maria to its first back-to-back 20 win seasons. Behrend will be competing in his second professional season in Germany for the 2021-2022 season and is the fourth player in the last three years that signed a professional contract under Moss’ development. Coach Moss’ strong background in recruiting not only applies to basketball, during the 2020-2021 season, Moss worked as a Recruiting Coordinator for NCSA (Next College Student-Athlete). Helping high school student-athletes throughout the country and abroad get identified by college coaches. Prior to Ave Maria, Moss spent nine seasons coaching high school basketball in Naples, Florida. Moss helped three different programs reach the state tournament, including helping two other programs to their first-ever regional final. He also guided numerous student-athletes through the recruiting process, not only in basketball but also in various spots.
Coach Moss has a degree in Elementary Education from Florida Southwestern and a Master’s in Coaching from Greenville University.
