Randolph Morris

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Randolph Morris
College	Kentucky
Sport	Basketball
Position	Power forward/Center
Class	Junior
Career	2004 – present
Height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Weight	259 lb (118 kg)
Nationality	United States
Born	January 2, 1986 Houston, Texas
High school	Landmark Christian HS, Atlanta, Georgia

Randolph Morris (born January 2, 1986 in Houston, Texas) is an American basketball player currently playing at the University of Kentucky.

1 High School
2 College
3 Controversy
4 External links

[edit] High School

Morris averaged 23.0 ppg, 16.0 rpg and 8.0 bpg as a senior for Atlanta’s Landmark Christian High School, earning him McDonald’s All-American status. Randolph Morris was the #2 rated center and #10 overall prospect by http://www.rivals.com in a year when a record eight high schoolers went directly to the NBA draft. Randolph Morris strongly considered a jump straight to the NBA as well, but decided to spend at least a year in school. Kentucky won a late recruiting battle, after drawing Morris away from early favorites Georgia Tech. Morris, along with All-Americans Joe Crawford and Rajon Rondo, gave Kentucky the #1 rated recruiting class in the nation.

[edit] College

After a solid debut in his first year at Kentucky, Morris decided to declare for the NBA draft and hired an agent. He averaged 8.8 points per game and 4.2 rebounds. Despite playing well for Kentucky and starting every game but one, he did not prove himself NBA ready and often got in foul trouble. Morris went undrafted and decided to attempt a return to Kentucky. The NCAA agreed to reinstate him, but not before sitting out the first half of the 2005-2006 season. Morris returned to Kentucky in January 2006, but could not help the team get out of its season-long slump. Nevertheless, he improved in almost every statistical category from his freshman year and was very impressive at times. As a sophomore, he averaged 13.3 points per game and 6 rebounds. Kentucky will depend on Morris greatly next season to return the team to its regular spot in the top 25.

[edit] Controversy

Due to a loophole in the NBA and NCAA rules, Morris, who declared for the draft, was permitted by the NCAA to return to the college game, but the NBA's collective bargaining agreement prohibited his re-entry into a future draft, which legally makes Morris an NBA free agent, who could be signed at any time by any team, and he could leave Kentucky in the middle of the season if he wanted to.