When head coach Steve Lavin brought his Southern California roots to Queens in Spring 2010, the ties between the East and West Coasts were made much tighter for this St. John’s program.
Dwayne Polee II, who had a solid freshman season in limited minutes, is a California player who Lavin was able to nab in his first few weeks on the job, and Amir Garrett and Norvel Pelle, both west coast products, will wear Johnnies’ red and white this fall.
“I call [St. John’s legend] Chris Mullin my ‘Godfather’,” said Morris-Walker. “He wants me to look into St. John’s.”
Mullin, the newly-inducted Hall of Famer, has a son (Chris Jr.) who used to play AAU basketball with Morris-Walker. Through that relationship, the two have grown to be good friends.
“He’s not actually my godfather, but I call him that because we’re so close,” said Morris-Walker.
The Berkeley, California native, who did not start playing organized basketball until 8th grade, is a crafty and smooth 6’5” swingman who has transcended the label of simply “athlete” and has transformed himself into a complete basketball player.
His athleticism adds something to his game on both the offensive and defensive ends, allowing him to play above the rim, but that is not all he has in his repertoire. He is continuing to develop a mid-range and outside game, and, if he could do that, would settle in nicely as a large shooting guard at the college level, at 6’5”.
Morris-Walker is drawing interest from across the country, including west coast schools like Oregon, Stanford, Nevada, and UC-Santa Barbara, and east coast schools like West Virginia, Marquette, and Boston College.
“The big thing for me is what kind of school it is, what it’s known for,” he said. “I really like Oregon and Stanford. Oregon is an up-and-coming team; they show a lot of promise.”
Morris-Walker compares his style of play to that of Memphis Grizzlies’ forward Rudy Gay, and the comparisons are not far off. “He’s an athlete that can really shoot it,” he says. “[Gay] gets the team involved and is a leader.”
This summer, he is working on his ballhandling to become the shooting guard he feels like he can be: “My whole life I’ve been a small forward. I want to become a complete player.”
The Oakland Soldiers, Morris-Walker’s AAU team includes other high-major recruits, top prospects like Brandon Ashley, Jabari Bird, and Richard Longrus.
Though St. John’s has not come calling yet, Morris-Walker says much of his family lives in New York, in Brooklyn and upstate, so he is open to the idea of going to the school on the east coast.
“I haven’t gotten a phone call or anything from St. John’s, but [Lavin] is a good coach,” Morris-Walker said. “I like how he has his guys playing.”
Heading into the summer AAU circuit and his senior season at Berkeley, Division I coaches will continue to take notice of this athletic wing and his recruitment should pick up, coast-to-coast.
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