Randolph Morris

Randolph Morris
No. 32 Beijing Ducks
Position Center / Power forward
League Chinese Basketball Association
Personal information
Born (1986-01-02) January 2, 1986
Houston, Texas
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 275 lb (125 kg)
Career information
High school Landmark Christian
(Fairburn, Georgia)
College Kentucky (2004–2007)
NBA draft 2005 / Undrafted
Playing career 2007–present
Career history
2007–2008 New York Knicks
20082010 Atlanta Hawks
2010–present Beijing Ducks
Career highlights and awards

Randolph Albert Morris (born January 2, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

High school

As a senior for Atlanta, Georgia's Landmark Christian High School, Morris nearly averaged a triple-double[1] at 23.0 ppg, 16.0 rpg and 8.0 bpg, which earned him McDonald's All-American Team status. Randolph Morris was the #2 rated center and #10 overall prospect by Rivals.com in a year when a record eight high schoolers went directly to the NBA draft. 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 favorite Georgia Tech.[2] Morris, along with All-Americans Joe Crawford and Rajon Rondo, gave Kentucky the top-rated recruiting class in the nation.[3] Also, in that same recruiting class was Kentucky teammate Ramel Bradley.

College

After a solid debut in his first year at Kentucky, Morris decided to declare for the 2005 NBA draft but did not hire 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 and 6 rebounds per game. In his junior season Morris made further progress, averaging 16.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, earning first team All-SEC honors.

Professional career

After his freshman year at Kentucky, Morris declared himself eligible for the 2005 NBA Draft. He was not drafted, but because he did not hire an agent, Morris was allowed to return to Kentucky to continue playing college basketball. At the same time, because the NBA's collective bargaining agreement prohibited him from re-entering into a future draft, Morris was also legally a free agent, who could be signed at any time; he would be able to leave Kentucky in the middle of the college basketball season if signed by an NBA team.[4]

Morris took advantage of being a free agent, and signed a two-year, $1.6 million contract with the New York Knicks on March 23, 2007, 5 days after Kentucky was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.[5] Morris became the first player in history to go from the NCAA to the NBA in the same week, when he signed with the New York Knicks. When the then head coach of Kentucky, Tubby Smith, resigned and took the job with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the University of Kentucky and Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart asked Morris to wait until UK found a new head coach to replace Smith. However, Morris chose to sign with the Knicks instead of waiting.

In the summer of 2008, Morris joined the summer league team of the Atlanta Hawks, and signed a two-year, $1.7 million contract with the Hawks on July 29.[6]

He joined the Beijing Ducks of the CBA in 2010.[7] He later helped teammate Stephon Marbury to lead the Ducks to win their first ever CBA Finals championship. In 2014, the Ducks won their second CBA championship, and Morris was named the CBA Finals MVP.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 New York 5 0 8.8 .167 .000 .333 1.8 .2 .4 .2 .8
2007–08 New York 18 2 10.1 .362 .000 .483 2.1 .1 .2 .1 3.1
2008–09 Atlanta 23 0 3.9 .412 .000 1.000 .9 .1 .1 .0 .8
2009–10 Atlanta 28 0 4.4 .561 .000 .593 1.4 .1 .2 .1 2.2
Career 74 2 5.9 .426 .000 .545 1.4 .1 .2 .1 1.9

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009 Atlanta 3 0 2.7 .000 .000 .000 .7 .0 .3 .0 .0
2010 Atlanta 3 0 3.3 .500 .000 1.000 .7 .0 .0 .0 1.0
Career 6 0 3.0 .333 .000 1.000 .7 .0 .2 .0 .5

References

  1. Kentucky's Morris should pull out of draft
  2. Davis, Seth (May 31, 2004), College Basketball: Who's No. 1?, Sports Illustrated
  3. "Rivals.com Top 25 for 2004". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  4. Wojnarowski, Adrian (2006-12-11). "The Problematic Prospect". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  5. "Knicks sign Kentucky center Morris to 2-year deal". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  6. Hawks land big man
  7. "Former Wildcat Randolph Morris shines in Beijing debut". AllKYhoops.com. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
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