Terence Morris Named A Top-10 Candidate For the Naismith Award
9/8/1999 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 8, 1999
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland junior forward Terence Morris is among the players who head the top 10 list of preseason candidates for the 1999-2000 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. A "best of the rest" list included 20 other players from around the nation.
The candidates were selected by a vote of the ATC Board of Selectors that is comprised of leading basketball coaches, journalists and basketball analysts. Members of the board were asked to name the top male players who are most likely to be in contention for the award during the upcoming season.
Morris averaged 15.3 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds as a sophomore last season. He was an All-ACC first-team selection and is the only returning all-ACC first team player for the 1999-2000 season.
Morris became only the fourth sophomore in school history to earn all-ACC first-team honors and finished fifth in the voting for ACC Player of the Year in 1999. He is among the most versatile players in the ACC and was the only conference player to finish among the league's top 10 in field-goal percentage (third), blocked shots (third), free-throw percentage (fourth), rebounds (eighth), scoring (tenth) and steals (tenth) during the 1998-99 season. He was an all-tournament team selection at the Puerto Rico Shootout, as he averaged 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and shot 70.8 percent from the field (17 of 24). In addition, Morris enters his junior season ranked sixth all-time at Maryland in blocked shots (106) and seventh in field goal shooting percentage (.542).
The Frederick, Md., native needs only 243 points to become the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Only 14 players in school history have reached the 1,000-point plateau during or before their junior seasons
Former Terp All-American Joe Smith won the award after leading the Terps to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament during the 1994-95 season.
