For the second year in a row, Iowa State men’s basketball has a preseason All-American. Senior point guard Monte Morris was named a preseason second-team All-American by NBC Sports on Tuesday.
Morris, who averaged 13.8 points and 6.9 assists during his junior campaign, could be poised for a huge season in 2016-17 as he’s expected to take over a much larger scoring role.
“Morris is in an interesting situation this season,” NBC’s Rob Dauster wrote. “For the past three years, he’s defined himself as the model of point guard efficiency, a facilitator who makes big shots when he has to but who excelled as running a team and creating for the guys around him. This year? That talent around him is depleted, meaning Morris will be asked to become more of a volume scorer. We expect him to embrace that role and excel in it.”
The 6-foot-2-inch, 170-pound, floor general was listed as a Wooden Award candidate by ESPN earlier this month. The preseason accolades are certainly just starting to roll out, so there is likely much more on the horizon for Morris over the next month.
A native of Flint, Mich., Morris burst on to the scene as a true freshman in 2013-14 when he set a new NCAA record for assist-to-turnover ratio. He’s done nothing but improve while taking over bigger production loads in the two years since.
Iowa State will host Hilton Madness, the first chance for fan’s to see this year’s team, on Oct. 14 at Hilton Coliseum.
