Morant ready for NCAA star turn
Murray State guard’s dunks have gone viral
HARTFORD, Conn. – The cameras swarmed Ja Morant in the Murray State locker room Wednesday, a physical representation of the attention he now draws.
There were local TV anchors looking for quotes. ESPN awaiting a oneon-one interview. A line of teammates sitting at the row of lockers opposite Morant teased him as he passed, marveling at the spectacle but not exactly surprised.
“It’s something I’m not used to,” Morant said of the attention. “I come from being under the radar.”
Playing for Murray State, in the Ohio Valley Conference, has somewhat shielded Morant from the national spotlight. But that will change Thursday when the 12th-seeded Racers face Markus Howard and No. 5 Marquette in one of the most highly anticipated games — and arguably the marquee one-on-one
matchup — of the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Morant already is projected to be a top-five pick in the NBA draft this summer, and he is on pace to be the first Division I player to average 20 points and 10 assists over the course of a season since the NCAA started recognizing the assist as an official stat in 1985-86. But March Madness could bring a new level of national exposure for the lanky sophomore, especially if Murray State is able to knock off Marquette and get its first tournament win since 2012.
“From all my years of being around Ja, the better the competition, his skill level increases,” Dwayne Edwards, who coached Morant at Crestwood (South Carolina) High School, told USA TODAY. “Every time I watched him play in an AAU game or an all-star game, you put him against some of those top players, he (plays like) a top player himself. The level of talent rises, Ja Morant’s talent also rises.”
Edwards, now athletics director at Crestwood, said he knew Morant had the potential to be a star when he first saw his shot nearly a decade ago, when Morant was a short, skinny middle schooler who rarely attacked the rim, much less dunked on it.
But Edwards also admitted he’s been surprised by how quickly Morant has blossomed into a national player of the year candidate — which, after an underthe-radar recruitment process out of high school and an unremarkable freshman year, is exactly what he’s become.
In an often-retold story, Morant only got on Murray State’s radar because former assistant James Kane stumbled across a pickup game on a side court in a Spartanburg, South Carolina, gym in 2016 while Kane was looking for a place to get food.
The Racers offered Morant a scholarship, and Morant — whose preferred first name “Ja” is a shortened version of his middle name Jamel — stuck with them.
“Coming from being overlooked in high school, and not receiving that much attention, there was times I questioned myself,” Morant said Wednesday. “Was I good enough?”
Now, Morant is averaging 24.9 points and 10 assists, eighth and first in Division I, respectively. His dunks have gone viral on social media, but his court awareness and distribution skills have been every bit as impressive.
“He sees things develop before anyone else on the floor,” Murray State coach Matt McMahon said. “And then the intangible type things you combine with those traits, such as his unselfishness, his competitiveness, his drive to win. You combine all of those things into one and you get this once-in-a-lifetime player, and that’s what he is.”
As Morant’s production has increased, national recognition has followed. He’s been the subject of magazine stories and “SportsCenter” shoutouts. Warriors forward Kevin Durant even went out of his way to praise him in a podcast late last year.
Morant still seems slightly uncomfortable with it all and credits his parents and teammates for keeping him level-headed, because they refuse to treat him differently.
“There’s no chemistry issues, there’s no jealousy for the attention that he’s getting,” Murray State assistant coach Shane Nichols said. “(He’s) not this, ‘Oh, I’m bigger than Murray State’ kind of guy. He’s not like that. He’s a real humble kid.”
As the NCAA tournament unfolds and the NBA draft approaches, Edwards has no doubt that Morant’s profile will continue to rise. He has a lot of personality beneath a reserved exterior, the former high school coach said, and he still has a lot left to prove.
“He’s going to work to convince people that he should be where he’s at today,” Edwards said, “because he put in the work.”