Shaquille Morris No. 9 in KenPom’s Player of the Year standings

Eight years ago, Ken Pomeroy set out to identify the most valuable player in college basketball “free of reputation, future potential, or amount of times the player appears on Big Monday.”

So Pomeroy devised a system where a player’s usage and efficiency was valued on offense and the amount of stops they were responsible for was valued on defense. Basically, it’s the best formula to show you in a number how valuable a player is.

After Wichita State’s 2-0 start to the season, senior Shaquille Morris has earned a spot on Pomeroy’s big board early in the season. Morris, a 6-foot-8, 279-pound center, is ranked No. 9 in the country with a Pomeroy rating of 1.289.

Morris is averaging 17 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 3 blocks and playing only 21 minutes per game. He’s shooting 72 percent from the field, including 4 of 6 from distance, and 83 percent in effective field goal percentage. His per-40-minute averages are 32.4 points, 14.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.9 steals, and 5.7 blocks.

Morris is among the nation’s leaders in block percentage (He’s getting a block on 16 percent of possessions he’s on the court) and he is pulling down 30 percent of his team’s defensive rebounds when he’s on the court.

Wichita State’s defense currently ranks No. 6 in Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Shaquille Morris No. 9 in KenPom’s Player of the Year standings."