Kansas Junior Marcus Morris Named Second Team Preseason All-American by Dick Vitale
July 20, 2010
Kansas men’s basketball junior forward Marcus Morris was recently named a Dickie V’s Second-Team Preseason All-American.
“This is great and shows how hard we have been working this summer,” Morris said during a break from training with the USA Basketball Select Team in Las Vegas, a team that will train against the USA National Team consisting of NBA players. “Preseason rankings and teams like this are about potential and I hope we can use this for motivation.”
An All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2009-10, Morris (6-8, 225 pounds) is Kansas’ top returning scorer and rebounder from last season when he averaged 12.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. His rebound average ranked 14th in the Big 12 last season and Yahoo! Sports named Morris the most improved player nationally. Morris has started 55 of 71 games while at Kansas and averages 10.1 ppg and 5.4 rpg for his career.
“Many of my teammates could have also been listed,” Morris said. “Tyshawn (Taylor) has started the last two years and Brady (Morningstar) started two years ago. We have a lot of upperclassmen this year and have a lot of depth.”
Kansas is coming off a 33-3 season in which it won its sixth-straight Big 12 regular-season championship with a 15-1 record, its third Big 12 tourney title in the last four years and was ranked No. 1 nationally for 15 weeks. KU returns 12 letterwinners, including starters Morris and Taylor from 2009-10 and Morningstar from 2008-09.
Morris has been busy this summer. In addition to his current USA Basketball Select Team training, the Philadelphia, Pa., native was selected to participate in LaBron James’ Skills camp earlier this month and Amar’e Stoudemire’s Skills Camp in late June.
Dickie V’s First Team Preseason All-Americans for 2010-11 consisted of Kyle Singler (Duke), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), JuJuan Johnson (Purdue), Malcom Delaney (Virginia Tech) and Jimmer Fredette (BYU). Joining Morris on the second team were Elias Harris (Gonzaga), Trey Thompkins (Georgia), Jacob Pullen (Kansas State) and Kalin Lucas (Michigan State).
Last season, Kansas’ Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich were featured on Dickie V’s All-American preseason teams.
