Nothing blocks path of CV grad
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Tony Morocco is a tell-itlike-it-is coach. If an official is being over-officious, in his view, the 40-year veteran will voice his displeasure.
If his Seton Hill men’s basketball team is not playing up to standard, Morocco will turn up the volume a level or two.
So you can imagine how he reacted when star center Spencer Casson, a Chartiers Valley grad, showed up 30 pounds over his prescribed playing weight entering his junior season in 2016-17.
Morocco did not hold back.
“I told him to get off the couch and quit eating potato chips and watching movies on his laptop,” Morocco said, lightheartedly. “I was disappointed. I gave him a lot of hell. But he got the message.”
For his part, Casson said the added poundage came courtesy of long days and nights in the weight room.
That is, until he was pressed on the matter.
“Maybe a little, maybe a little,” Casson said, when asked if he downed a bag or three of salted snacks. “I was trying to put on some muscle, but I guess [Morocco] thought it was fat, unhealthy.”
Now that he’s back down to his natural playing weight of 255 pounds in this, his senior season, Casson has ruled with a heavy hand defensively for the Griffins (8-15, 5-13 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West).
At 6 feet 8 with a wingspan that extends to nearly 7 feet, Casson is one of the great erasers at the Division II level. He ranks third nationally at 3.29 blocked shots per game, trailing only Gabe Smith of MinnesotaCrookston at 3.88 and Zach Hankins of Ferris State at 3.46.
A season ago, Casson finished second nationally at 4.2 per game, despite the added weight. And in 201516, his average of 3.7 was tops in the nation.
He has twice produced triple-doubles in points, rebounds and blocks, including 12, 10 and 10 on Jan. 27 versus Clarion.
“He’s a great physical specimen,” said Morocco, a Trafford native who started the Seton Hill program 15 years ago. “He has the body of a defensive end for the Steelers. And he has the ability to block shots in an uncanny way.” How so? “He stretches out like he’s 6-11, and he’s a big guy with quick-twitch jumping ability,” Morocco said. “Late in our game against Clarion, he made three big blocks that were enough to make an opposing coach stand up and clap.”
To put Casson’s voluminous rejection total in perspective, consider only eight current NBA players have blocked 10 or more shots in a single game. None have done so since 2015-16.
Casson, meantime, has done it twice in the past two seasons.
“It’s about anticipation, I guess,” said Casson, the two-time PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year who has blocked five or more shots six times this season. “You have to time it just right.”
That is precisely what Casson did when he sent a shot five rows deep against Clarion. Ditto for when he blocked three consecutive dunks against Mansfield.
“The guy kept trying to throw it down on me, so it was a good feeling to stop him,” said Casson, who ranked third nationally in blocked shots as a senior at Chartiers Valley.
Given the frequency of his swats, Casson causes some to develop a phobia for entering the paint. This typically manifests itself quickly, he said.
“You can see them second-guessing themselves as they go to the basket,” Casson said. “Or, you’ll see guards shooting floaters that go up to the ceiling.”
To supplement his block totals, Casson averages 9.9 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds. He scored a season-best 25 against PittJohnstown earlier this season and a career-best 33 versus Mercyhurst as a junior.
Morocco called Casson a “great rebounder” who is starting to believe in his scoring ability.
“We’re always telling him to shoot more, because if he did, he could put up some nice totals,” said Morocco, who has coached at the Division I and professional level. “He has all the tools to do so.”
The driving force behind Casson’s playing career is his mother, Brenda, who was diagnosed two years ago with an enlarged heart. The condition, Casson said, put her at risk of sudden death. Brenda Casson, who never misses a game, has since had surgery that has greatly improved her health, her son said.
“It’s great seeing her in the stands, cheering for me,” he said. “Every chance I get, I try to put on a show for her.”
Mission accomplished, Morocco says.
“He’s come a long way. He’s going to graduate, he’s developed into a talented basketball player and he’s a great young man. I always say to him, ‘One day, you’re going to like me.”
That “one day” has arrived.
“In the beginning, it was rough,” Casson said. “I came in as a redshirt and it was hard not playing. He always tried to push me to the limit. I wouldn’t always see things the same way, but I do know that he was doing what was best for me.”