PG of the Year: Tommy Mobley

Athlete, actor. Singer, friend. Since arriving at Exeter at the beginning of the year, postgraduate Tommy Mobley has thrown himself into the community and made a name for himself not only as a talented basketball player and musician, but a confident and genial guy. Upon meeting Mobley, senior Keji Oladinni said, “I was immediately surprised by how friendly and outgoing he was.”

Mobley began looking at boarding schools to attend for his post graduate year in the hopes of getting into a better college than he would have otherwise. Although he liked all the schools he visited, Exeter immediately struck him. “When I came here, it was like those schools were in black and white and Exeter was in color,” he said. “I thought Exeter was a school I’d be much happier at.”

Mobley, who started playing basketball at the age of four, played guard on the boys’ varsity team this year. He is one of the most decorated players in recent Massachusetts State basketball, and was Exeter’s most prolific shooter this year: in a game against Williston Northampton School, he scored six three-pointers. He will attend Amherst for basketball in the fall.

According to Mobley, his PG season gave him the opportunity to experience being a supporting player rather than the lead player on the court.“This year has been good for me to learn a little bit of a different role,” he said. “And that’s a good role for me to learn because in college I’ll certainly have some games and some seasons where I will have to be a roleplayer rather than a go to guy.”

“His commitment to all things Exeter—basketball and beyond—is unmatched. He is a leader in every sense of the word.”

Despite this humble self-assessment, Mobley’s coach, Jay Tilton, called Mobley a “plug-and-play leader from day one,” adding that his impressive shooting range was just the beginning of his contribution to the team. “On the court, Tommy developed into a complete player who committed to cutting without the ball, making the extra pass and defending off the ball at a college level,” he said. “Over the course of the season Tommy recognized the need to develop into a more complete player. His contribution beyond shooting was exemplary, and it will serve him well at Amherst.”

Mobley brings great skill to the court, but he also brings spirit and dedication. “He’s a passionate player and he always works hard no matter what the situation is,” said teammate and fellow postgraduate Cooxooeii Black. “He pushes people to be their best on the court and in return he always brings his best.”

Tilton echoed this sentiment, saying, “his positive, selfless attitude exemplified what we hoped to embody as a team all season.” Lower Brian Zhao, who played alongside Mobley in the fall, agreed. “He’s a genuine, humble, diligent natural born leader,” Zhao said of Mobley. “As a young kid on the team, being able to witness his work ethic and enthusiasm is something I’ll never forget.”

Tilton concluded, “In the end, his daily commitment to growing as a player, selfless attitude and daily work ethic made him a true leader in one of the best basketball teams in Exeter’s history.”

Another area of his life in which Mobley applies commitment and passion is singing. He began singing as a child at his church and later joined his high school choir. At Exeter, Mobley sang with Gospel Choir and the Exeteras, the all boys a capella group on campus.

Senior Maya Perkins, who sang in Gospel Choir with Mobley and who performed an Evening Prayer, or “EP,” with him in May, said “anyone who’s heard Tommy sing knows he’s gifted, but the thing that sets him apart from the other singers on this campus is the confidence he exudes.” Oladinni agreed. “Tommy is very passionate about it and very talented; he’s got so much soul and knows so much music,” she said.

For Mobley, singing serves as a means of self-expression. “[Singing] is the way I like to express my soul,” he said. “I’m not a good painter, I’m not a good dancer. I’m too corny to be a poet. Singing is my form of expression.” This spring, Mobley brought the same confidence to the stage when he played the role of detective in the student production of “The Laramie Project.”

Mobley explained that he has always loved acting, but felt uncomfortable pursuing it until he came to Exeter. “Coming here I never was categorized, I could be whoever I wanted to be,” he said, describing how Exeter provided him with the freedom to explore several parts of himself. “I felt free to try new things and to be whoever I wanted to make myself be here. I didn’t feel any pressure when I came here to fit into one thing.

For Mobley, the show served as a welcome and educational opportunity to practice acting.“I learn something every day,” he said. “There are people in that play who might have more talent than me and I can learn from them and ask them questions and improve myself.” 

After busy weeks of both sport and song, Mobley attends church as a way to stop and slow down for a while. “It’s really nice when you’re going so fast each week,” he said. “It is in a way a form of meditation for me.” On Sundays, Mobley likes to attend the Exeter Congregational Church as well as Phillips Church. “It relaxes me and it’s an opportunity for me to kind of sit back and think,” he said. “Churches for me have a very comforting feeling.

Despite his tight schedule, Mobley has made the most of what Exeter has to offer. “There are so many opportunities, so many clubs,” he said. “There are so many areas of the school that I’ve been excited to try and join and get into.”

At Exeter, Mobley has pushed himself academically as well as athletically and in his extracurriculars. “It [Exeter] has made me work harder and try to get more creative,” he said. “It’s made me be more conscientious and diligent about my own work and put more value into the work that I hand into my teachers.”

He continued, commending Exeter for its acceptance and appreciation of all talents.“Everyone has something they’re really good at, whether it’s piano, whether it’s dance, whether it’s a sport, whether it’s writing, whether it’s science, whether it’s with computers,” he said. “Everyone seems to value those qualities in each person. Everyone values everyone’s strengths.”

Mobley himself has truly embodied this doctrine of acceptance.

Senior Zanny Merullo said of Mobley, “we can learn from the way he treats everyone the same, and from the way he is unafraid to talk about even the most difficult things.”

On top of keeping up with his basketball, his singing, his faith and his acting, Mobley has still found time to be a good friend to his fellow Exonians. “If Tommy Mobley is your friend you can always count on him to be there for you,” Black  said. “He’s genuinely trustworthy and treats everybody with respect. Tommy is a good friend because he cares, gives you his undivided attention, and always knows how to make you laugh.”

Merullo echoed Black’s admiration of Mobley. “Tommy is outgoing and confident, he treats everyone like a human being, he is not afraid to ask questions and put himself out there, and he is a sweet kid,” she said.

At Amherst, and in the true spirit of non sibi, Mobley plans on following a pre-medical route. “I want to do something that impacts people’s lives and helps people,” he said. “I think that one of my strengths is [that] I’m very talkative and outgoing and I like to talk about feelings.” Someday, he hopes to be a general practitioner or a pediatrician.

Mobley explained that he plans to immerse himself in the community just as he did upon arriving at Exeter.“[I want to] not hold back, try new things, find out what makes me happy, and then do that with my fullest ability,” he said. “My goal is leave Amherst better than the way I found it and to leave Amherst a better person than I was when I got there.”

No doubt, Mobley will contribute to the Amherst just as he has contributed to the Exeter campus, with his kind, humble, outgoing and effusive personality, his extraordinary athleticism and singing skills, and the dedication and positive energy he brings to each day.

“His commitment to all things Exeter—basketball and beyond—is unmatched,” Tilton concluded. “He is a leader in every sense of the word.”