McKinley grad Morgan becomes force for MSU

His Spartans play Ohio State tonight in a key
Big Ten showdown.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

COLUMBUS — Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan quickly established himself as one of college basketball’s best freshmen last season.

The Canton native who led McKinley High School to back-to-back state titles was far from a finished product, though. More was expected from Morgan this year.

He was all ears when his mother, Carole, a former basketball player, gave him some valuable advice.

“Just be more aggressive, have more confidence in my overall game and just stay positive,” Morgan said. “Just play and have fun.”

Thanks to mom, Morgan has taken steps forward and is having fun this season. He enters tonight’s home game against Ohio State averaging a team-best 17.6 points and is the Spartans’ second-leading rebounder at 7.1 a game.

All-American recognition certainly is within reach this year for Morgan, who coach Tom Izzo said could be one of the best forwards in Michigan State history.

“He’s made a phenomenal impact,” Izzo said. “I’ve seen improvements almost more with his mental game and body language than his physical game. He’s become a better guy as far as dealing with himself, not getting down and that.

“He’s one of the more versatile players we’ve had in quite a few years. I think that’s what is going to make him special as his ball handling improves and his perimeter shooting continues to get better. He even has more ceiling to grow here. That’s exciting for him and exciting for us.”

Morgan being more aggressive this season comes almost out of necessity for Michigan State. Opponents have tried to put more pressure on Drew Neitzel, the Spartans’ All-American point guard. But they are quickly realizing that Michigan State has a pretty formidable tandem.

Morgan scored a career-high 31 points in a 6-point win over Minnesota on a night when Neitzel was held to just 4. He became the first Spartan in almost eight years to record at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in that game and went on to share Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

“You have to step your game up anyway in order to succeed,” Morgan said. “Drew is going to make shots and do the things he does, regardless of whoever’s guarding him. I just felt like I had to help take the weight off his shoulders a little bit.”

As a team, the Spartans want to try to take off some of the weight they’re feeling on their shoulders.

Michigan State enters tonight’s game against the Buckeyes 14-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten. The two league wins were close calls. The loss was a shocker — a 43-36 defeat at Iowa on Saturday.

“Our team is real inconsistent,” Morgan said. “We’ll start off good, then fall off toward the end. I think that’s what happened to us at Iowa.

“We have to be more consistent and mentally focused.”