Four-star Morgan sets visits
Waynesville (Mo.) class of 2015 power forward Juwan Morgan had a strong month of July playing in front of college coaches with MoKan Elite. On the court, the 6-foot-8 forward impressed coaches with ability to battle in the paint and knock down mid-range jumpers, but he's also very impressive on the academic side. For those reasons, schools from all over the country are making him a priority.
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"The schools I talk to the most are Stanford, Washington, Creighton, Indiana and Vanderbilt. Kansas and Missouri are on me too along with those other schools, and that's my top seven right now."
The four-star prospect has already scheduled official visits to see four of the seven schools he is considering.
"I have four official visits set already and I'm going to set another one before Aug. 28, which is when I go on my first official. I've set up visits with Vanderbilt, Indiana, Creighton and Washington. I'm still trying to figure who will get the last visit between Kansas, Missouri and Stanford."
Vanderbilt has caught Morgan's attention for a number of reasons.
"They play in the SEC. The roster they would have when I get with there with the players they have coming in would have the potential to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. I've seen the style they play and I like it. My relationship with Coach [Kevin] Stallings and Coach [Adam] Cohen is really good. Their academic reputation is a big factor too because eventually the ball will stop bouncing."
Like Vanderbilt, Stanford's academic reputation is among the best in the country.
"It's not like their just one of those schools that has really good academics and just an average program. They are good in both. They are always making runs and beating top teams. I like Coach [Johnny] Dawkins too. I like talking to him."
Creighton started recruiting Morgan early and have been relentless in their pursuit ever since.
"I like Creighton's style of play. They were the one of the first schools to start recruiting me a couple years ago, so I've been able to build up a stronger relationship with the coaches there than the other schools."
A connection through somebody very close to Morgan helped the Washington Huskies find their way into the mix for the four-star prospect.
"Coach [Lorenzo] Romar, he's good friends with my high school coach. My high school coach has told me really good things about him. Also, I've talked with players that are committed to Washington in my class and they've spoken really highly of him. It seems like a great place."
Morgan took an unofficial visit to Indiana in June and the Hoosiers really impressed him.
"Indiana puts a lot of people in the NBA. Coach [Tom] Crean's reputation is second to none. It was great talking to him and all the other coaches when I went on my unofficial. All the players said it was family type atmosphere. They said it is all business on the court, but off the court they are always hanging out."
Kansas has yet to offer Morgan a scholarship, but he's kept them on his list anyways. He admits that Kansas is an offer he's always wanted.
"I just always liked their program. They are always one of the top schools in the country. They put players in the NBA. They know what it takes to get you there. I played with Coach [Norm] Roberts' son one year and I got to talk with him with a lot about their program. They have been on me hard in the last couple weeks."
With four of his five visits set, Morgan is moving closer to ending the recruiting process. After he's completed his visits, he plans to take some time before settling on where he'll play college basketball.
"I know I want to commit before the early signing period. I'll probably commit a couple weeks after my last visit. One thing that I'm looking for is the way the players talk about the coaches. Also, how they use their bigs and develop players is important. Academics will definitely be a part of the decision as well."
Dan McDonald is a contributing national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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