Morris Makes Her Choice

By Chris Hansen
National Director of Scouting
Posted Fri, 08/03/2007 - 05:36 Casey Morris from Piedmont High School has made her college choice less than a week after the NCAA summer evaluation period ended and she is staying on the West Coast.

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Casey Morris has had quite a summer, from the USA Basketball Youth Developmental Festival to playing in summer tournaments from Hawaii to South Carolina. That summer has culminated in a college decision. On Thursday the No. 45 ranked player in the 2008 class according to HoopGurlz.com verbally committed to the Cal Bears and head coach Joanne Boyle.

Morris chose Cal over Arizona State, Notre Dame, San Diego, USC and Vanderbilt. She gives Cal a very versatile guard who can play either guard position and gives the Golden Bears another top prospect; last year they signed Lenita Sanford, who was ranked No. 24 by HoopGurlz.com. Asking Morris to fill Alexis Gray-Lawson's shoes next year isn't fair but much like Gray-Lawson her abilities will allow Boyle to play her in numerous roles.

"I'm ready to play whatever they need me to play," Morris said.

Morris has played most of her career as a star point guard for Piedmont High School and even with her club team last year she played primarily point guard. This year getting to play at the USA YDF and the addition of Vicky Tagalicod, another proven point guard from Hawaii, to her club team allowed her to play the scoring guard and Morris can definitely score the rock. With her club team, Cal Storm, she is surrounded by a lot of offensive talent, but for her high school you see her creating more for herself off the dribble. At the USA YDF, her passing skills really shined. The bottom line is there is a world of talent in Morris just waiting to be utilized.

 

If Cal can land another of the top guard prospects such as Ashley Corral or Nikki Speed, who both are noted as having Cal on their final list, it will give them more interchangeable parts in their backcourts for the future. How nice would that be for Sanford to rip down a rebound and find legitimate outlets on both sides of the court? The Golden Bears have visits upcoming this fall from Speed and one of the country's top wing players, Briana Gilbreath.

As for Morris she said there was no single thing that led to her commitment, and definitely no pressure to commit early. "I just felt it was the right place." Morris said. "It was comfortable and I didn't feel pressure or anything." She liked the academics offered and is interested in Medicine, she connected with the coaching staff including the new additions of Charmin Smith and Kevin Morrison and absolutely loves the campus.

Morris knows she needs to get stronger to be ready to play at the college level with the same success she enjoys now. "I think I've gotten smarter and more mature on the floor," Morris added of her game's growth in the past year.

The summer is just starting to heat up on the recruiting front and now there is one less top 50 player available to colleges across the country as Boyle's Cal team lands this first commitment of the summer for the Bears.

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Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com. He leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz. Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chris@hoopgurlz.com.

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