Morris is looking for fit

Minnesota's next official visitor will be 6-foot-5 Chipola College wing Carlos Morris who produced 13.3 points, four rebounds, and two assists a game as a college freshman. Chipola Coach Patrick Blake was a Louisville manager under Rick Pitino for four seasons and has a long relationship with Gopher Coach Richard Pitino.

Coming out of high school Morris was a three star prospect ranked 147th in the 2012 final Rivals 150. At one point he was committed to South Carolina choosing the Gamecocks over offers from Arkansas, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, San Diego State, USF, and West Virginia. However, Morris did not sign in the fall of 2011 choosing to go the route of junior college instead.

Last winter Morris joined a massively talented Chipola freshman group that includes Florida State committed Cinmeon Bowers, Torian Graham (there was some Minnesota interest here as well but Memphis and Ole Miss are leaders), Sam Cassell (who recently visited Marquette, Missouri, UCONN, and will be at Louisville this weekend), and Demetrious Floyd.

With all this talent around him Morris still scored the 13 plus points per contest while shooting 44.5 percent from the wing and 36.5 percent at the arc. Morris and his teammates are excited for the 2013-14 season.

"Things are looking good, we just got to stay together as a team and we'll win," said Morris. "It's about wins. Win our conference, win state, and make our way to Hutch (where the NJCAA national tournament is held)."

Morris kicked off his fall recruiting with a visit to Seton Hall two weeks ago and he lists the Pirates along with several others looking at him consistently. Morris seems to be quite open to whichever programs are seriously interested in him.

"Right now I'm wide open and I'm comfortable with the schools that are recruiting me," said Morris. "I like the programs that I've been talking to and I can make a decision based on the schools that I have (that have offered). Basically I'm wide open."

This weekend Morris will be at Minnesota taking his second official visit.

"I'll be at Minnesota this Friday through Sunday," Carlos stated. "Minnesota is showing me a lot of love right now. My thoughts about them at this time are that I'm very interested in them. I'll take the visit and we'll see how things go from there."

Coach Blake and Coach Pitino are quite familiar with one another so Morris is a recruit that does have a feel for what new Gopher Coach Richard Pitino is like on a day to day basis. Blake was around Pitino at Louisville and it's a certainty that Blake and Morris have had conversations about what it would be like if Morris played for Pitino.

"They are close friends and definitely have a close connection to one another, they are good friends," Morris said.

Minnesota will have competition because other schools are looking hard at Morris as well and his number one concern is a chance to showcase his ability. Size of program, the conference, history, and other things always matter to a degree but for Morris the right fit and the chance to play severely outweigh everything else.

"I'm also hearing from UAB, Seton Hall, and Arkansas," Morris said. "Some others have offered as well but I'm not hearing from them others as much. I don't have any other visits set up at the moment but I plan to take visits to UAB and Arkansas next month.

"When I'm looking at a school I want to make sure I get a long with the staff and I want to make sure that I am a priority. I'm a juco guy. I don't want to go to a school where I may be sitting ya know? I will only have two years left so I need to go to a school and get it done.

"I'm not really looking for a major type of school or big time conference, I have to go where I will play and when I go somewhere and get that gut feeling then I will know that is the place for me."

Morris will be at Minnesota when they have practice over the weekend plus when the Minnesota football team plays rival Iowa at TCF Bank Stadium.