Prospect Spotlight: Marcus Morgan (2021)
The inaugural 2021 rankings have been released, and Iowa City West has yet another young prospect ranked among the elite.
Marcus Morgan, a 6-foot-3 guard, checks in at No. 8 in the rankings. And it’s his all-around game that makes him such a dynamic threat on the floor.
“I’m a defender, you know, I like to defend and get up and guard people and I’ll get a few buckets here and there when we need them,” said Morgan.
It’s his ball-handling and point guard skills that he’ll be looking to improve over the next few years. He’s hoping to develop into more of a combo guard than a wing.
“For me, it’s a ball-handling thing, if I can get my dribble tight and more comfortable with the ball in my hands, that will help a lot. I’m going to be playing a lot of guard this year for my high school team,” said Morgan. “And also just getting into the gym and getting up shots, I feel like I’m a good shooter and that will get me in rhythm.”
Morgan is an Iowa Barnstormers guy, and spent this past spring and summer as a team leader with the 15U unit.
“Bouncing back from the big scandal was tough at first. Getting through that was tough. For the team, we didn’t have the best summer and spring that we would have liked, but it was alright,” said Morgan. “I had to lead that team, because we had a lot of new players, so I had to make sure everyone was doing their job and focused.”
Now, he heads into a sophomore season with mighty Iowa City West, and despite the Trojans’ wealth of upperclassmen guard talent, Morgan says he’ll get his chance to contribute with the varsity this winter.
“That (playing varsity) will more than likely be something that happens, and I was practicing with them plenty of time last year,” said Morgan. “This summer, I got a lot more comfortable with everyone and the guys during summer ball. I feel comfortable going up to the varsity level and I know I can handle it.”
As good as Morgan is at basketball, he’s also establishing himself as one of the state’s best young football players. He’s been the starting quarterback at West since week 3 of the football season.
“I really enjoy playing them both and it’s two completely different games for me, and football is a lot different than basketball,” said Morgan, who says recruitment hasn’t really started up yet for either.
“I haven’t gotten too many looks, just a couple letters here and there from a few small schools.”
Marcus Morgan is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 10 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2021 class, click here.