It’s hard to imagine one college basketball player could attract former NBA star Reggie Miller, Kobe Bryant with his wife and baby and numerous NBA scouts to Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse.
But after watching Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison play against the Waves, it is clear he is more than just your average college basketball star. “Big time,” said Laker and former Gonzaga star Ronny Turiaf, who sat behind the Gonzaga bench at the game.
“There’s nothing else to say about him [Morrison]. Big time.” Morrison and Duke’s J.J. Redick are locked in a battle to prove who is the best college basketball player in the nation. This season they have been trading 40-point games.
What separates Morrison is his 6-foot-8-inch NBA body and his quick first step, which has allowed him to become more than just a sharpshooter.
Lately, Morrison has been hitting jump shots off the dribble and taking the ball to the basket. “He’s a good player,” said Pepperdine forward Cody Horning, who was given the challenge of guarding Morrison. “He isn’t the leading scorer in the nation for nothing. He’s pretty quick off the dribble, you can’t give him an easy shot. But other than that, he’s just like guarding any other player.”
The Waves did a good job guarding Morrison. He was held under his season averages in points, rebounds and assists.
“[Morrison] is not going to hit eight out of 10 threes every night,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “I expect him to have some off games.”
Gonzaga, ranked fifth in the nation, is not a one-man team. Center J.P. Batista has been a dominant low-post threat, and guard Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes gives Gonzaga another shooter to take some of the pressure off Morrison. Gonzaga has already beaten upper-echelon schools such as Michigan State, Washington State and Oklahoma State.
“[Gonzaga] definitely has a chance to do some big things in the [NCAA] tournament, as long as they execute and play together,” said Laker guard Devin Green after watching Gonzaga play.
Despite all of Gonzaga’s success, Pepperdine, which is 7-18 this season, didn’t play as if the team was intimidated. The Waves began the game on a 17-8 run before Morrison heated up at the end of the first half and Gonzaga pulled ahead for an 81-71 win.
“Pepperdine played us tough,” Few said. “They played us physical and got after us a bit, and we played like a frustrated team most of the night.”
Despite the loss in their final home game of the season, the Pepperdine players were excited about the big crowd, and the exposure they got from playing on national TV on ESPN2. “With Kobe here, it made my night,” said Pepperdine center Russell Hicks.
Center Derick Grubb added, “I always love playing on TV. It’s fun. My momma gets to see me!”
Seth Rubinroit is currently a freshman at Malibu High School and writes sports for LA Youth and TheSportsGod.com.