Randolph Albert Morris (born January 2, 1986) is a retired former 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.
High school
As a senior for
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
's Landmark Christian High School, Morris nearly averaged a triple-double at 23.0 ppg, 16.0 rpg and 8.0 bpg, which earned him
McDonald's All-American Team
The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...
status. Randolph Morris was the #2 rated center and #10 overall prospect by
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
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
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
won a late recruiting battle, after drawing Morris away from early favorite
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 ...
. Morris, along with All-Americans
Joe Crawford and
Rajon Rondo
Rajon Pierre Rondo (, born February 22, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, Rondo played two years of college basketball for ...
, gave Kentucky the top-rated recruiting class in the nation. Also, in that same recruiting class was
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
teammate
Ramel Bradley
Ramel "Smooth" Bradley (born February 5, 1985) is a retired American professional basketball player who last played for Ankara DSİ of the Turkish Basketball First League. He played college basketball at the University of Kentucky.
High school
...
.
College
After a solid debut in his first year at
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, 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
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
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
The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players fr ...
. He went undrafted, but since he did not hire an agent, Morris was allowed to return to the
Wildcats
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...
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. That meant he would be able to leave Kentucky in the middle of the college basketball season if signed by an NBA team.
Morris took advantage of his free agent status, and signed a two-year, $1.6 million contract with the
New York Knicks on March 23, 2007, five days after Kentucky was eliminated from the
NCAA tournament. Morris became the first player in history to go from the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
to the
NBA in the same week, when he signed with the Knicks.
When UK's then head coach
Tubby Smith
Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univer ...
resigned and took the same job with the
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...
, Kentucky's athletic director Mitch Barnhart asked Morris to defer making a decision about turning pro until after the administration found a new head coach to replace Smith, but he chose to sign with New York instead of waiting.
After spending parts of two seasons playing with the Knicks, Morris joined the
NBA Summer League team of the
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
in 2008, and subsequently signed a two-year, $1.7 million contract with the Hawks on July 29. He would then spend the next two seasons as a member of Atlanta's roster.
Morris moved to the
Beijing Ducks
The Beijing Shougang Ducks (''simplified Chinese'': 北京首钢鸭俱乐部篮球队), also known as Beijing Shougang or Beijing Ducks, are a professional basketball team based in Beijing, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chin ...
of the
Chinese Basketball Association
The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China.
The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...
ahead of the
2010-11 season.
In his second season in
China, he and teammate
Stephon Marbury
Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach in the Chinese Basketball Association. After his freshman year with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he was selected as th ...
led Beijing to its first-ever
CBA title. In
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, the Ducks won their second championship, and Morris was named the
CBA Finals MVP
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Finals MVP is the annual award that is handed out at the end of each Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) playoff finals series to the most valuable player of that season's CBA Finals. The award was first d ...
. Beijing repeated as champions in
2015, giving the Ducks a run of three titles in four years.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
, -
, align="left" ,
, align="left" ,
New York
, 5 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .167 , , .000 , , .333 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , .4 , , .2 , , .8
, -
, align="left" ,
, align="left" ,
New York
, 18 , , 2 , , 10.1 , , .362 , , .000 , , .483 , , 2.1 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.1
, -
, align="left" ,
, align="left" ,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, 23 , , 0 , , 3.9 , , .412 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .9 , , .1 , , .1 , , .0 , , .8
, -
, align="left" ,
, align="left" ,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, 28 , , 0 , , 4.4 , , .561 , , .000 , , .593 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.2
, -
, align="left" , Career
, align="left" ,
, 74 , , 2 , , 5.9 , , .426 , , .000 , , .545 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.9
Playoffs
, -
, align="left" ,
2009
, align="left" ,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, 3 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .7 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0
, -
, align="left" ,
2010
, align="left" ,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, 3 , , 0 , , 3.3 , , .500 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0
, -
, align="left" , Career
, align="left" ,
, 6 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .333 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .7 , , .0 , , .2 , , .0 , , .5
References
External links
*
Kentucky Wildcats bioYahoo! Sports profileESPN.com Player Card
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Randolph
1986 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in China
American expatriate basketball people in Lebanon
American men's basketball players
Atlanta Hawks players
Basketball players from Atlanta
Basketball players from Houston
Beijing Ducks players
Centers (basketball)
Power forwards (basketball)
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
New York Knicks players
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Undrafted National Basketball Association players
Al Riyadi Club Beirut basketball players