Wake Forest Athletics
Photo by: Jaylynn Nash LLC
Deacon Sports Xtra: Mucius Finds Perfect Fit His Fourth Year
1/19/2022 12:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Les Johns
After experiencing a coaching change followed by a disappointing Covid-impacted season, it would have only been natural for rising senior Isaiah Mucius to consider other options, given the forgiving nature of the NCAA Transfer Portal.
A versatile 6-foot-8 wing with three years' experience in the Atlantic Coast Conference? His phone would have been ringing pretty quickly.
But in a postseason meeting with Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes, Mucius was promised an opportunity to be part of a rebuild and that there would be ample talent on the court with him in the 2021-22 season.
"Last year was tough," Mucius said. "I had faith in Coach Forbes. When we met at the end of the year, he promised me he was going to get me a team and build guys around me so we could make something happen my senior year. Then he did what he said. He's been a man of his word.
"I continue to have faith in him, and he continues to breed confidence in me. I have worked every single day, and he took care of the rest by bringing in the guys. Now we're a match made in heaven."
The Wake Forest roster features 12 ACC-level players according to Forbes, as he brought in a group of nine new players combined through the normal 2021 recruiting class, the transfer portal and the international market. Then they spent all summer together, meshing both on and off the court.
"Number one, I think our chemistry — usually when you see a team of new guys, everybody expects it to be tough to build chemistry," Mucius said. "Everybody is new and comes from different areas. But we gelled probably quicker than teams that have been together for longer. We have a lot of guys who are super hungry and have something to prove, which gives us that added edge. Everybody wants to prove everyone around the ACC wrong.
"And we're playing super-unselfishly on the court. With Covid last year and never knowing if any day would be your last game, now everyone is happy. We come to practice and everything else going on is left at the door. The court is our sanctuary."
Mucius arrived at Wake Forest as part of a five-player 2018 recruiting class that was ranked fourth in the ACC by 247Sports. While Mucius was a top-100 ranked player, it was Jaylen Hoard who became a one-and-done, spending time so far in both the Portland and Oklahoma City organizations. The other three players in that class transferred out without ever making an impact.
Mucius has been a mainstay, however, with a versatile skill set and infectious personality.
"We want to build Wake back to the basketball power it used to be," Mucius said — prior to arriving on campus in 2018.
He won New Hampshire Player of the Year, earning the opportunity to play in the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic as a high school senior.
"A lot of the top players in the country were invited to that event," Mucius said. "I was blessed to be invited and got to play against some of the top guys in the class. Iverson chatted with us for a couple hours and he shared a lot of advice. He had a small body, but a big heart. He told us that we have to play each possession like it's your last, and that's how he played."
Mucius arrived at Wake Forest with good ball skills for his size and a great basketball I.Q., for which he credits his father Matt, who played collegiately at Alabama A&M.
"I wasn't always 6-foot-8," Isaiah joked. "My dad had me in the gym learning everything — passing, dribbling at an early age. Once I hit that growth spurt, the basketball I.Q. and knowledge just stuck with me. Having that high basketball IQ helps make me a mismatch and gives me the edge to take my game to the next level."
Playing more than 20 minutes a game in all three seasons at Wake Forest, Mucius has increased his scoring and rebounding production each year. He's shooting over 34 percent from behind the arc the last two seasons, and believes he's found a formula to make his final season at Wake Forest his best season.
"Efficiency is the biggest thing for me," he said. "When you have a group of players who are unselfish, you're going to be efficient. Instead of shooting 5-for-12, I'm shooting 7-for-9. I have those efficient days because I'm cutting and getting easy layups, and letting the game come to me.
"It's easy to have a 20-point game when you're getting offensive rebounds, getting to the free-throw line and getting easy shots. I could literally get 20 points and not put the ball on the floor one time. I want to be able to impact the game without the ball."
Adding experienced and talented players like Alondes Williams, Khadim Sy, Dallas Walton and Jake LaRavia has taken the pressure off Mucius to be the primary scorer and has allowed him to simplify his game.
"It's gotten so much better," Mucius said. "I've simplified it a bunch, and me being simpler has increased my productivity. Playing with guys who are super-talented who can make plays at every position helps me to simplify my game. I'm shooting better than I ever have since stepping on campus.
"Plays are slowing down for me, and I'm crashing the glass. I'm doing the little things to get the guys going and get myself going. The guys have confidence in me too. They know I can play and be an all-league type player."
He also credits the increase in practice competition for helping drive him daily to get better.
"When you feel like you don't have to compete for your spot, you have those days where you're not going to go hard," Mucius explained. "But every single day now, someone is going to go for your spot. That's the competitive spirit of what we have going. Battling against Jake, Man Man (Williams), Dream (Sy) and those guys helps to push me every single day. I can't have a day off. From the summer that has led to consistency.
"No matter how tired I am or if I'm hurting, I'm just ready to go mentally. And they push me to that high expectation and standard. It's just natural now."
In terms of wins and losses, the last three seasons haven't gone exactly the way Mucius had planned when he first arrived on campus back in 2018. But this season still provides the opportunity for a happy ending to his story, a chance to be a vital cog in the rebuilding of Wake Forest Basketball.
"I just want to win," Mucius said. "Everything has come together perfectly. We got the team. My game is starting to come together. We have the guys around me that make me super-happy and I'm comfortable playing around.
"This is probably the most confident I've been in my game and the team. I feel like we can accomplish a lot. We're going to be a sleeper team this season."
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A versatile 6-foot-8 wing with three years' experience in the Atlantic Coast Conference? His phone would have been ringing pretty quickly.
But in a postseason meeting with Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes, Mucius was promised an opportunity to be part of a rebuild and that there would be ample talent on the court with him in the 2021-22 season.
"Last year was tough," Mucius said. "I had faith in Coach Forbes. When we met at the end of the year, he promised me he was going to get me a team and build guys around me so we could make something happen my senior year. Then he did what he said. He's been a man of his word.
"I continue to have faith in him, and he continues to breed confidence in me. I have worked every single day, and he took care of the rest by bringing in the guys. Now we're a match made in heaven."
The Wake Forest roster features 12 ACC-level players according to Forbes, as he brought in a group of nine new players combined through the normal 2021 recruiting class, the transfer portal and the international market. Then they spent all summer together, meshing both on and off the court.
"Number one, I think our chemistry — usually when you see a team of new guys, everybody expects it to be tough to build chemistry," Mucius said. "Everybody is new and comes from different areas. But we gelled probably quicker than teams that have been together for longer. We have a lot of guys who are super hungry and have something to prove, which gives us that added edge. Everybody wants to prove everyone around the ACC wrong.
"And we're playing super-unselfishly on the court. With Covid last year and never knowing if any day would be your last game, now everyone is happy. We come to practice and everything else going on is left at the door. The court is our sanctuary."
Mucius arrived at Wake Forest as part of a five-player 2018 recruiting class that was ranked fourth in the ACC by 247Sports. While Mucius was a top-100 ranked player, it was Jaylen Hoard who became a one-and-done, spending time so far in both the Portland and Oklahoma City organizations. The other three players in that class transferred out without ever making an impact.
Mucius has been a mainstay, however, with a versatile skill set and infectious personality.
"We want to build Wake back to the basketball power it used to be," Mucius said — prior to arriving on campus in 2018.
He won New Hampshire Player of the Year, earning the opportunity to play in the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic as a high school senior.
"A lot of the top players in the country were invited to that event," Mucius said. "I was blessed to be invited and got to play against some of the top guys in the class. Iverson chatted with us for a couple hours and he shared a lot of advice. He had a small body, but a big heart. He told us that we have to play each possession like it's your last, and that's how he played."
Mucius arrived at Wake Forest with good ball skills for his size and a great basketball I.Q., for which he credits his father Matt, who played collegiately at Alabama A&M.
"I wasn't always 6-foot-8," Isaiah joked. "My dad had me in the gym learning everything — passing, dribbling at an early age. Once I hit that growth spurt, the basketball I.Q. and knowledge just stuck with me. Having that high basketball IQ helps make me a mismatch and gives me the edge to take my game to the next level."
Playing more than 20 minutes a game in all three seasons at Wake Forest, Mucius has increased his scoring and rebounding production each year. He's shooting over 34 percent from behind the arc the last two seasons, and believes he's found a formula to make his final season at Wake Forest his best season.
"Efficiency is the biggest thing for me," he said. "When you have a group of players who are unselfish, you're going to be efficient. Instead of shooting 5-for-12, I'm shooting 7-for-9. I have those efficient days because I'm cutting and getting easy layups, and letting the game come to me.
"It's easy to have a 20-point game when you're getting offensive rebounds, getting to the free-throw line and getting easy shots. I could literally get 20 points and not put the ball on the floor one time. I want to be able to impact the game without the ball."
Adding experienced and talented players like Alondes Williams, Khadim Sy, Dallas Walton and Jake LaRavia has taken the pressure off Mucius to be the primary scorer and has allowed him to simplify his game.
"It's gotten so much better," Mucius said. "I've simplified it a bunch, and me being simpler has increased my productivity. Playing with guys who are super-talented who can make plays at every position helps me to simplify my game. I'm shooting better than I ever have since stepping on campus.
"Plays are slowing down for me, and I'm crashing the glass. I'm doing the little things to get the guys going and get myself going. The guys have confidence in me too. They know I can play and be an all-league type player."
He also credits the increase in practice competition for helping drive him daily to get better.
"When you feel like you don't have to compete for your spot, you have those days where you're not going to go hard," Mucius explained. "But every single day now, someone is going to go for your spot. That's the competitive spirit of what we have going. Battling against Jake, Man Man (Williams), Dream (Sy) and those guys helps to push me every single day. I can't have a day off. From the summer that has led to consistency.
"No matter how tired I am or if I'm hurting, I'm just ready to go mentally. And they push me to that high expectation and standard. It's just natural now."
In terms of wins and losses, the last three seasons haven't gone exactly the way Mucius had planned when he first arrived on campus back in 2018. But this season still provides the opportunity for a happy ending to his story, a chance to be a vital cog in the rebuilding of Wake Forest Basketball.
"I just want to win," Mucius said. "Everything has come together perfectly. We got the team. My game is starting to come together. We have the guys around me that make me super-happy and I'm comfortable playing around.
"This is probably the most confident I've been in my game and the team. I feel like we can accomplish a lot. We're going to be a sleeper team this season."
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