Robert Duncan Morse (born January 4, 1951) is an American former 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. He was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991. In 2008, Morse was chosen as one of the 50 most influential personalities in European club basketball, over the previous half-century.

High school

Morse attended Kennett High School, in

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World because mushroom farming in the region produces over 500 million pounds of mushrooms a year, totaling half of the United ...

, where he played high school basketball. He was a prolific scorer for the Pennsylvania high school.

College career

Morse graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1972, after playing

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 ...

with the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are s ...

. He led the team in scoring in each of the three seasons, from 1969–70 to 1971–72, in which Penn's win–loss record was 78–6, including two

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

Elite Eight appearances ( 1971 and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

). He co-captained the 1972 squad, along with Corky Calhoun, and was awarded the Class of 1915 Award, as the outstanding student-athlete of the Class of 1972. Morse was elected to the Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame in 1977.

Club playing career

Morse's tremendous scoring ability helped the great Italian League club, Pallacanestro Varese to win three EuroLeague championships in the 1970s (

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

), in seven consecutive

EuroLeague Finals The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe. Title holders * ......1958 Rīgas ASK * 195 ...

appearances, and to win four Italian League Championships (1973, 1974, 1977, 1978). Morse led the Italian League in scoring for six seasons. His career averages for 11 seasons played in the Italian League were 27.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He shot 60.9% from the field, 85.9% from the free throw line, and 54.5% from three-point distance.

Post-playing career

In 2007, Morse earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in the

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about ...

, from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. In 2009, in recognition of his contributions on and off the court, the City Council of

Varese, Italy Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

, made Morse an honorary citizen of the city.Varese, Italy, Honorary Citizenship BASKET: BOB MORSE DIVENTA CITTADINO ONORARIO DI VARESE .
/ref> In 2016, after nine years of teaching Italian at

Saint Mary's College (Indiana) Saint Mary's College is a private Catholic women's liberal arts college college in Notre Dame, Indiana. Founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the name of the school refers to the Virgin Mary. Saint Mary's offers five bachelor's ...

, Morse retired. He currently resides in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

References

External links

Bob Morse, the legend of VareseTheDraftReview ProfileItalian League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Bob 1951 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia Buffalo Braves draft picks Lega Basket Serie A players Olympique Antibes basketball players Pallacanestro Reggiana players Pallacanestro Varese players Penn Quakers men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards University of Virginia alumni