Are Hoosiers hosting top juco prospect

JucoJunction recently came out with its pre-summer rankings of the top juco sophomores for next year and at the top of the list was 6-foot-7 forward Ty Morrison from Redlands Community College (Oklahoma). That is why it was big news to find out last week from some excellent sources that Indiana had begun to get involved with Morrison. Peegs.com and Inside Indiana talked with Redlands head coach Steve Eck to try to confirm those rumors.

"They haven't contacted me yet, so maybe not officially recruiting him yet," said Eck. "But Ty called me to say that Indiana called, which is fine."

"So I understand Indiana is interested in Ty, how much I don't know yet," added Eck.

Morrison is originally from the Phoenix area where he played at Trevor Browne High School. Word has it he knows Indiana freshman-to-be Joey Shaw very well. Shaw is of course from that same area (Deer Valley HS, Glendale, Ariz.).

Coach Eck gaves us a quick description of his acclaimed forward.

"He's 6-foot-7, athletic, can really run the court, good shooter," said Eck. "Last year he was kind of shy plus we had Sylvester Mayes who was a first team All-American but by the end of the year he really stepped up. But he's a good shooter, can penetrate, he's getting a lot stronger, about 220-pounds now."

And he's been working hard off the court.

"Right now he is really motivated," said Eck. "He ended up with a 3.30 G.P.A., which is really great considering where he came from. He really stepped up second semester, made all-A's. He really worked hard in the classroom and off the court."

The coach sees Morrison as a likely wing forward at the next level.

"He's a three man," said Eck. "He can shoot outside, drive you, his mid-range game is getting pretty good. He can play a four spot, but I think you want to play him more at the three. But he will play both."

Morrison's best trait might be on the other side of the ball.

"He's my best defensive player," said Eck. "He can even defend the point guard. He's very quick and has long arms."

The coach went through the list of serious suitors.

"The ones that have talked to me and Ty are Washington, Oklahoma, Arizona, Oregon, Purdue, Missouri, and I'm sure I am leaving out a few," said Eck. "He really had a quiet freshman year. People who watched him saw the improvement in him."

As the coach alluded to, Morrison's freshman year numbers were modest.

"He averaged 10.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists," said Eck.

It was another great season for Redlands as the team went 26-4. However, it did end earlier than hoped.

"We won our league but lost in our tournament," said Eck. "We've won our (regional) tournament for three years straight but last year lost it. Still finished sixth in the country."

Eck has coached a lot of big time jucos and talked about what it means for Morrison to get that top ranked pre-season honor.

"I saw that and that is good for Ty and recognition but he also knows.....I've had Lee Nailon from Indiana, an All-American, Stephen Jackson, who's up there now, and at Butler County I had four All-Americans in three years and here I have had an All-American every year, Taj Gray now at Oklahoma....Ty is right there," said Eck. "He knows what he has to do. There are guys in our league that had better numbers than Ty last year and they are probably wondering how come they are not up there but I think it is more out of what he can possibly do and not what he did."

Morrison is in Indiana this week, competing at an event at the new Indy Southside Sports Academy in the Southport area.

"He is at the Juco All-American Challenge this week," said Eck. "Then he will be at Jerry Mullin's event in Tulsa. "

For more info on the Juco Challenge which runs tomorrow through Saturday, click here.

The coach believes it may be a bit before Morrison's college decision but won't be surprised if it happens quicker.

"I think so but things change," said Eck. "Like last year with Sylvester (Mayes), Ohio State came in and did a real good job on him and sold Sylvester. The year before Taj Gray had it narrowed down to three schools before school started, but I am not sure Ty is going to be there like that."