By JACOB POLACHECK
Arterio Morris, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound point guard from Prolific Prep (CA), has picked up offers from Memphis, Baylor, Texas and UCLA this week. He broke down each school for ZAGSBLOG Friday:
Memphis: “Coach Cody [Toppert] has been talking to me a lot. He’s been sending me game film and telling me how they slow the game down to play at a certain speed and players can to the bucket when they need to.”
Baylor: “They’ve been telling me about their school in general, talking about academics and all that.”
Texas: “They made an edit of me in a Texas jersey and sent me more about their school and community.”
UCLA: “They just talked to me about sending me an offer, but I don’t have too much information about that one.”
Morris also said that Texas Tech, Oregon and Kansas are the three schools that have been in contact the most. He broke down each school:
Texas Tech: “That’s like family. They were texting my coaches before they could even text me. Before every game that I had, they were saying ‘put on for Texas Tech’ and stuff like that. When they were able to reach out, they just talked a lot about them being the first people to actually call me. So, to hear from them was great, really.”
Oregon: “It’s the same thing as UCLA. They were just talking about the offer and their community.”
Kansas: “They called me and they were playing saying ‘welcome to the family’, but they’re good people, especially coaching staff wise. I know a player that goes there, Marcus Garrett. He talks about how he really likes the school. Just hearing that is great.”
When evaluating these schools, Morris says he’s paying the most attention to the academics and ‘how they treat their newcomers’.
While the coronavirus pandemic has put recruiting visits on hold, Morris says he hopes to take visits to Texas and Memphis in the fall.
“I would really say the Texas Longhorns and Memphis,” Morris said. “Texas Tech as well, but I already visited them.”
Morris took an unofficial visit to Texas Tech for their matchup against Kentucky on Jan. 25 as the Red Raiders fell to the Wildcats 76-74.
“The court and just their student section,” Morris said on what stood out the most. “The atmosphere there as well because the whole stadium was packed.”
In addition to the schools mentioned above, Morris also holds offers from schools such as Arkansas, SMU, TCU, Texas A&M and Stephen F. Austin, among others.
“My coaches gave college coaches the wrong number so half of them didn’t text me,” Morris said. “But I have about 15 offers.”
According to 247Sports, Morris is ranked as the No. 5 point guard and No. 23 overall player in the Class of 2022.
Morris describes himself as a ‘very good shot blocker’ with a solid offensive game.
“I can shoot threes pretty well,” he said. “I can also get to the bucket.”
After spending last year at Kimball (TX), Morris will transfer to Prolific Prep (CA) for his sophomore year, he told ZAGSBLOG.
“They are good people,” he said. “They been in my ear since school let out.”
Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.com was the first to report the news of Morris’ transfer.
Photo: Stewart F. House
This story has been updated.
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