The Loyola Greyhounds have had an empty seat on their bench since late November, waiting for the return of assistant coach Alisha Mosley.
The 31-year-old coach, who has been an assistant for the women's basketball team the past five seasons, has been hospitalized for more than six weeks, much of it in a medically induced coma after doctors found she had double pneumonia.
``When she first went in they didn't think she'd make it,'' Mosley's mother, Vicky, told The Associated Press by phone on Wednesday. ``It looked like only 10 percent of her lungs had air in it. Now it looks the opposite.''
Mosley has shown significant signs of recovery in the last few days, batting her eyes, moving her lips and even whispering to her mom.
Doctors are now lessening her medication, though Mosley is still heavily sedated.
``They are just starting to wean her off the drugs and things are looking up,'' Loyola head coach Joe Logan said. ``We're trying to make it as positive as we can for the kids and keep her in our prayers and thoughts. She'd want us to play hard and get wins.''
Mosley went to a doctor on Nov. 30 after she wasn't feeling well. With her temperature soaring and having difficulty breathing, she was immediately admitted to a local hospital.
Initially, she was still calling and texting Logan to discuss the team's plans and upcoming games. That all stopped a couple of days later when her mom called Logan and told him that Mosley was going to be medevaced to Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore and put on a ventilator. She's been in intensive care ever since.
Mosley has had her share of setbacks, at one point suffering acute kidney failure and being put on dialysis. But now she is slowly coming back.
The Greyhounds took a trip to the hospital right before Christmas to spend time with Mosley's parents. It was therapeutic for everyone.
``Her dad was talking to the team about what we needed to work on, it's like she was speaking through him,'' Greyhounds senior Kaitlin Grant said.
The team brought a banner along that sometimes hangs near her bed.
``Those are her kids,'' Vicky Mosley said. ``It's like they are watching over her now.''
The Greyhounds have gone 4-2 since that visit and are currently 8-7 overall and in second place in the Metro Atlantic Conference behind powerhouse Marist.
``Every time we step on the court, the starting team says this one's for Mose,'' Grant said. ``We're going to keep winning for Mose.''
Mosley's parents have been keeping a scrapbook of all the well wishes and e-mails that have been pouring in for Alisha. Her mom has taken a photo of everyone who has come to visit so that Mosley will be able to see the outpouring of support that she has received.
Mosley's brother Andre has been using Alisha's Facebook page as a way to keep the well-wishers up-to-date on her status.
``It's so much easier to keep people abreast that way with one simple click,'' Vicky Mosley said.
Villanova coach Harry Peretta, who had tried to recruit Mosley when she was a standout player in high school in Baltimore, was one of many in the coaching community who offered encouragement and support to her parents.
``It's such a small world in a lot of ways,'' Logan said. ``She played in the ACC at Wake Forest, was at Georgetown as an assistant for a few years and is very well known in the Baltimore community.''
Their coach's ordeal has put basketball in perspective for her team.
``Knowing what Mose is going through and how she'd love to be at practice and how we take a lot of things for granted,'' Grant said. ``Play hard every day, you don't know what can happen. It definitely keeps us more grounded.''
Mosley's mom plans to throw a huge party when her daughter gets out of the hospital.
``She missed her birthday on Dec. 23, Christmas, and New Year's. It's going to be a three-day celebration,'' Vicky Mosley said, laughing.
