Terence Goes To Chicago
6/30/2000 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 30, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland senior Terence Morris has been selected as one of ten members to appear this weekend in Chicago as selections to the 2000 Playboy All-America college basketball team.
Morris, the 6-9 Terrapin forward who averaged 15.8 points and 8.6 rebounds as a junior, has helped lead Maryland to 53 wins over his sophomore and junior seasons. Only six other schools in the country boast more wins. Morris also was fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 71 blocked shots. He contributed 12 double-doubles last season while Maryland finished 25-10 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Morris' itinerary in Chicago includes a clinic for youth, a dream team photograph with the other members of the All-America squad and an awards dinner on Saturday evening. Other members of the 2000 Playboy All-America team include: Loren Woods (Arizona), Brendon Haywood (North Carolina), Shane Battier (Duke), Troy Murphy (Notre Dame), Brian Scalaabrine (Southern Cal), Trenton Hassell (Austin Peay), Tony Harris (Tennessee), Jamaal Tinsley (Iowa State), Casey Jacobsen (Stanford).
More on Terence Morris
An All-America candidate as one of the most versatile players in college basketball ... one of America's most complete players ... member of the Playboy All-America Team entering his senior season ... honorable mention All-America pick after each of his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons ... All-ACC second team following his junior season, All-ACC first team after his sophomore campaign ... enters his final college season among Maryland career charts in blocks (5th), steals (10th), 3FGs (10th), rebounds (17th) and points (19th) ... surpassed 1,000 career points against Duke on Jan. 9, 2000 and ended his junior campaign with 1,288 career points in 100 career games (12.9 per game) ... just the 15th player in Maryland history to reach 1,000 points before or during his junior season ... multiple blocked shots in 41 of 68 games over the last two seasons ... three or more blocks in 29 of those games ... finished second in ACC blocked shots as a junior and third as a sophomore ... "Do-Everything" talent whose greatest contributions might not be viewed in the boxscore ... unselfish player whose efforts last season helped develop the talents of teammates Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon ... presents matchup problems at the forward position because of his speed and quick footwork ... uses his quickness to take players outside where he is comfortable on defense and uses his foot speed to beat a post-up defender to his favorite spot on the floor ... drew comparison by an opposing ACC coach last season to NBA all-star Scottie Pippen.
Williams on Morris: "Every once in a while you have a player where you don't see any ceiling to his game. Terence has a chance to be great, and I don't say that about a lot of players. Terence was the guy last year who started the season and allowed us to get off to a good start. He probably had as much pressure on him as any other college basketball player in the country because he was picked player of the year in the ACC and first team All-America in the preseason. Really, when you looked at our team at the beginning of last year, there was nobody else that teams really focused on besides Terence. Terence took all that attention early in the year, and yet he had great games against some really good teams. And that allowed Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon to develop their game kind of off to the side where people really weren't focused on them. To Terence's credit he's completely unselfish. He passed up shots for the other guys' benefit last year and did a lot of things team-wise. I think Terence is one of those people who is genuinely happy when the team wins. There are a lot of guys that say they are, but might not be. I think Terrance is very happy regardless of what his stats reveal. He is a great passer, too, especially for his size. He's one of the best passers for a player that size that I've ever coached. His decision to come back this year was just a very mature decision on his behalf. In other words, he could have gone out a made a lot of money this year, but he will be here as a better player at the end of next season, than he was at the end of this season."
1999-00: 34-game starter who averaged 15.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.6 steals per contest ... finished in the ACC top ten statistical leaders in rebounds (3rd), blocks (4th), field goal percentage (6th), free throw percentage (6th), scoring (7th) and steals (10th) ... honorable mention All-America ... second-team All-ACC ... ACC All-Tournament second team ... one of 15 national finalists for the Naismith Award ... preseason ACC Player of the Year and first team preseason All-America by numerous publications ... career-high 12 double-doubles ... first Terrapin player since Joe Smith in 1995 to post four consecutive double-doubles ... had 18 points, 11 rebounds vs. Virginia on Feb. 2 ... 16 points, 10 rebounds vs. NC State on Feb. 6 ... 20 points and 12 boards in landmark victory at No. 3 Duke on Feb. 9 ... 17 points, 12 rebounds at No. 19 Temple ... season-high 25 points vs. Kentucky at Madison Square Garden fell one point shy of his career-high 26 the previous season against Kentucky ... career-high with six assists twice, vs. Notre Dame and vs. Iowa ... career-high with seven blocks twice, vs. Tulane and vs. Wake Forest ... career-high five steals at Duke ... scored in double figures in 30 of 34 games ... 10 games of 20 points or better ... 12 games with at least three blocked shots ... streak of 51 consecutive starts and 83 straight games was snapped while missing the game at Clemson with an ankle injury.
