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Attracts good energy, brings people with him.
Contagious energy.
Does all the little things hard.
Same guy every day.
Consistency is important, follow his lead.
This is what we want at PSA.
These are just some of the reasons the coaching staff singled out Derrick Morris for the second time in four weeks with the Horse Collar award, which is given to the player who they feel had the best week on and off the court.
“Guys feed off his energy,” coach Josh Scraba said. “Derrick is a big reason why we will be special.”
Morris, a postgrad student from New Orleans, walked into a situation here primed for his strengths to show. The Mustangs, coming off their second straight national championship, have only three returning players from last year – Ben Ahmed, Oswin Erhunmwunse (who is out until midseason recovering from summer shoulder surgery), and Ramsay Checo (who missed all but three games last year because of injury). Darryl Simmons, Mo Dioubate, Miles Rose, Duane Thompson…those fixtures have moved on, and Morris has seamlessly slid in.
“I’m just being myself,” he said. “Good leaders, they just are who they are. When you try to force it, it doesn’t work. If you being you creates other people following you, then you’re doing something right.
“First you have to show them. You have to show why people should follow you. You have to do what’s asked of you, what’s expected, you have to do things the right way. Then, when other people say those things, like ‘He’s a leader, follow him,’ guys see it. They won’t follow because someone told them to; they follow because they see it.”
The 18-year-old Morris has done plenty right since arriving in Putnam.
His leadership extends beyond the court, and he was named PSA’s Student of the Week recently as well, a recognition that encompasses classwork but also behavior and attitude around campus.
“My parents brought me up the right way,” he said.
“My grandparents had a lot to do with it. “They taught me the old-fashioned way about the importance of respect. Kindness is easy. It’s harder to be mean to people than it is to be kind. There’s nothing to wake up in the morning and smile, because you woke up that morning.”
Speaking of mornings, the Mustangs had their first outdoor 6 a.m. workout the last week of September.
There was some grumbling throughout the rest of the day about being tired and being sore, but Morris, who has gotten up at 4 a.m. to get early-morning workouts in, had the normal bounce in his step.
“It wasn’t bad,” he said. “It was my first experience with the cold, but it’s all right. I love getting up early. Get your day started. If you sleep in until noon, the day is gone. Yeah, of course there are times I want to sleep in, but I know I’m here for a reason.”
And that reason is to earn a Division I scholarship (he has a handful of D-II offers on the table) and help PSA win a fifth ring – “if we win, everything else will follow.” At just 5-foot-9, Morris follows in the footsteps of other undersized point guards with whom the Mustangs have had great success (think Simmons and Arturo Dean, recently).
“I like this team,” Morris said. “Everybody has heart. And not everybody shows it the same way. Not everybody comes hyped every day, ready to go. But they all have heart in their own way.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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