Monté Robert Morris (born June 27, 1995) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's an ...

Early life and high school career

Morris was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and his mother is Lationa Morris. His mother nicknamed him "Man-Man" when he was born. He grew up in Flint, Michigan attending Flint Beecher High School. Morris was childhood friends with future NBA player and later NBA teammate,

Kyle Kuzma Kyle Alexander Kuzma (born July 24, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and was named first-team all-confere ...

, as both attended Dailey Elementary School. He was a four-year starter for the Beecher Buccaneers. Morris was a three-time winner of Michigan's

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Class C Player of the Year Award and a three time all-state selection. He led the Buccaneers in scoring, assists, and steals in all four seasons. He led Flint Beecher to back-to-back Class C Michigan state titles in 2012 and 2013. One of the nation's best point guards, Morris won Michigan's Mr. Basketball award in 2013. He was ranked No. 96 in the final

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national rankings and No. 89 in the

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ratings as well as being a ''Parade'' All-American. Morris was recruited to Butler,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, USC, and Iowa State which he ultimately committed to.

College career

Freshman season

Morris started the season on the bench but worked his way into the starting line-up against the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

on February 1, 2014, staying there ever since. Morris averaged 6.8 points, 3.7 assists, and 2.6 rebounds and dished out 134 assists, the third most by any freshman in school history. He shot 84.7 percent (61-72) at the free-throw line, the second-best mark by an ISU freshman, and was the only Big 12 freshman to make at least 25 threes (28-69) and shoot over 40 percent. He scored double figures in 13 games, including all three games in the NCAA tournament. Morris tallied a season-high 15 points in the Cyclones' NCAA Tournament win against NCCU and followed that with 13 against the North Carolina Tar Heels. He dished out five or more assists in 12 games and led all Big 12 freshmen with 46 steals, the fifth most by an ISU rookie. His 1.3 steals per game ranked seventh in the Big 12, and he had an ISU freshman record of 12 assists with no turnovers against West Virginia. He played 52 minutes of turnover-free basketball in ISU's triple-OT win at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and had 10 points and five assists, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in the third overtime against the Cowboys. He broke the NCAA record and led the nation with a 4.79 assist-to-turnover ratio, including a 6.9 assist-to-turnover ratio in Big 12 play.

Sophomore season

Morris started all 34 games and averaged 11.9 points, second on the team. He also posted a Big 12-best 5.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds on his way to earning All-Big 12 Second-Team honors. He had second-most assists of any sophomore and 11th-most by any player in school history. Morris was second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage shooting 50.7 percent from the field, had 64 steals, the second-most by a sophomore and tied for the ninth-most by any player in a single season in school history. His 110 steals in the last two seasons were the most by any Big 12 player. His first-career 20-point game came against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, he recorded his first double-double and just missed a triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds against

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. He tallied a career-high 24 points and hit a buzzer-beating 17-foot fadeaway to beat

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in Big 12 quarterfinals. He averaged 15.3 points to earn Big 12 All-Tournament team honors as the Cyclones won the Big 12 tournament for the second consecutive season and he did not commit a turnover in three games at the

Big 12 Championship The Big 12 Conference sponsors championships in 23 sports, 10 men's and 13 women's. The first conference championship awarded was the 1996 softball postseason tournament championship, which was won by Oklahoma. From 2011 through 2016, the foot ...

. He led the nation for the second consecutive season with a 4.63 assist-to-turnover ratio and finished season with 176 assists and just 38 turnovers.

Junior season

On February 1, 2016, he was named one of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. He was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for the

Naismith Trophy The Naismith Trophy is a trophy awarded to the men's champion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and is named in honor of basketball's inventor, James Naismith. The trophy was first awarded to the winner of the 1967 FIBA World Championship. The ...

on February 11.

Senior season

Morris received preseason recognition on November 2, 2016, as the

named him to the preseason All-American team. At the end of his senior season, Morris broke the NCAA record assist-to-turnover ratio from 4.79 he set his freshman year to the new record of 5.21. In 2017, Morris led Iowa State to a 5th seed in the NCAA tournament and got into the second round before losing to Purdue.

Professional career

Denver Nuggets (2017–2022)

Morris was selected in the second round, 51st pick overall by the Denver Nuggets in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

. Following the Summer League he signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the Nuggets. Under the terms of the deal he would split time between the Nuggets and a G League team that would be best designated for him. For Morris, he was assigned to the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won fo ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

on October 23, 2017. On December 12, 2017, Morris made his NBA debut against the

. He recorded an assist in three minutes of action. In three games with the Nuggets, he averaged 3.3 points per game. Morris averaged 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game with Rio Grande Valley. On December 29, 2020, Morris scored a career-high 24 points in a 125–115 loss to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. On February 16, 2022, Morris scored 13 points, including a game-winning three-point shot as time expired, in a 117–116 win over the Golden State Warriors.

Washington Wizards (2022–2023)

On July 6, 2022, Morris was traded, alongside

Will Barton William Denard Barton III (born January 6, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Memphis, where he was named the Conference ...

, to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and

Ish Smith Ishmael Larry Smith (born July 5, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Smith holds the record of ...

. Morris made his Wizards debut on October 19, recording seven points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in a 114–107 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Detroit Pistons (2023–present)

On July 6, 2023, Morris was traded to the

in exchange for a future second-round pick.

National team career

On March 20, 2021, Morris committed to play for the Nigerian national team as a naturalized player.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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, style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 6 , , 24.0 , , .493 , , .414 , , .802 , , 2.4 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .0 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , 12 , , 22.4 , , .459 , , .378 , , .843 , , 1.9 , , 3.5 , , .8 , , .2 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 13 , , 25.4 , , .481 , , .381 , , .795 , , 2.0 , , 3.2 , , .7 , , .3 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , 74 , , 29.9 , , .484 , , .396 , , .869 , , 3.0 , , 4.4 , , .7 , , .2 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 62 , , 61 , , 27.3 , , .480 , , .382 , , .831 , , 3.4 , , 5.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , 10.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 342 , , 166 , , 25.6 , , .481 , , .392 , , .830 , , 2.5 , , 4.0 , , .8 , , .2 , , 10.5

Playoffs

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, 14 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .384 , , .000 , , .692 , , 1.4 , , 2.6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

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, 19 , , 4 , , 21.4 , , .496 , , .300 , , .824 , , 1.5 , , 2.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 10 , , 1 , , 28.7 , , .431 , , .400 , , .724 , , 2.4 , , 5.5 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

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, 5 , , 5 , , 31.2 , , .490 , , .423 , , .750 , , 2.2 , , 5.4 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 14.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 48 , , 10 , , 22.3 , , .451 , , .328 , , .761 , , 1.7 , , 3.5 , , .7 , , .1 , , 9.5

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Iowa State , 36 , , 17 , , 28.1 , , .430 , , .406 , , .847 , , 2.6 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Iowa State , 34 , , 34 , , 33.9 , , .507 , , .395 , , .753 , , 3.4 , , 5.2 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Iowa State , 35 , , 35 , , 38.0 , , .487 , , .358 , , .729 , , 3.9 , , 6.9 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Iowa State , 35 , , 35 , , 35.3 , , .465 , , .378 , , .802 , , 4.8 , , 6.2 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 16.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 140 , , 121 , , 33.8 , , .476 , , .381 , , .780 , , 3.7 , , 5.5 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , 12.2

References

External links

Iowa State Cyclones bio

ESPN.com profile

CBSSports.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Monte 1995 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Flint, Michigan Basketball players from Grand Rapids, Michigan Denver Nuggets draft picks Denver Nuggets players Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball players Naturalized citizens of Nigeria Nigerian men's basketball players Nigerian people of African-American descent Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Washington Wizards players