‘We never stopped believing in Morris’: Udeze announces his return to Wichita State
The final spot on the Wichita State men’s basketball roster for the 2020-21 season has been filled, and not by a new recruit.
Center Morris Udeze, who entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal on March 19, announced that he has withdrawn it and will return for his junior season with the Shockers.
The 6-foot-8, 240-pound bulldozer from Houston is exactly what WSU needed to round out its roster: a center with experience. He started five games at center last season for the Shockers and averaged 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game. As a freshman, Udeze averaged 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game.
In an exclusive interview with The Eagle, WSU coach Gregg Marshall said he was happy to see Udeze return.
“We never stopped believing in Morris,” Marshall said. “He’s been a part of a lot of wins here in the last two years and now he has his opportunity with Jaime (Echenique) having graduated.
“He’s had the last four weeks to look around and you’ll have to ask him why he chose to come back, but sometimes the grass is not greener. The opportunity that he has with this program and with the exciting youngsters that are joining, I think he saw that. And the longer he was away he realized that we did believe in him and he was going to get an opportunity next year to be a part of a special team.”
Echenique was averaging nearly 26 minutes per game in conference play, which leaves a lot of playing time and low-post touches up for grabs between Udeze, Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, another returning junior, and Josaphat Bilau, a 6-foot-10, 232-pound freshman who redshirted last season and has potential that excites the WSU coaching staff.
Udeze has shown his upside in limited playing in his first two seasons at WSU, with his freshman season cut short due to a shoulder injury. He plays with a high motor and is a tenacious rebounder with a nice array of post moves on the low block that allowed him to make 61% of his shots last season. But at 6-8, he’s limited as a rim protector on defense, committing 9.1 fouls per 40 minutes and shooting 48% at the foul line last season.
Still, he’s likely the front-runner to start at center next season for the Shockers. He will also have a chance to be a team leader, something that Marshall believes appealed to him.
“For two years, he was an underclassmen and now he’s going to be an upperclassmen and have an opportunity to lead along with some of the other guys returning,” Marshall said.
For much of the past month, both sides have been operating as though Udeze would not be returning. Once Udeze entered into the transfer portal, WSU was not obligated to hold his scholarship until he officially transferred. Meanwhile, Udeze garnered offers from high-tier programs like San Diego State, Butler, Xavier, Arizona State, Seton Hall and Minnesota.
WSU explored the junior-college ranks and graduate-transfer options at center but never found the right fit. Marshall said assistant coach Isaac Brown, his longest-tenured assistant, maintained contact with Udeze during the last month and ultimately led him back to the program.
“I think with our program, Morris knew what he was getting,” Marshall said. “You know exactly who you have to compete against in practice and how you’re going to be coached. It’s the known versus the unknown. You have no idea what’s going on at these other schools. You’ve never been to any of them. You can’t go visit now. So you would have to go and trust a new coach in a new system and you have no idea who’s on their team or how good they are.”
With Udeze back, WSU is confident it can remain competitive at the top of the American Athletic Conference and chase an NCAA Tournament bid. With Udeze penciled in at center, WSU could trot out Connecticut graduate transfer Alterique Gilbert at point guard, sophomore Tyson Etienne and junior Dexter Dennis on the wings with senior Trey Wade at forward.
The depth would be rounded out by guards Craig Porter (junior), Trevin Wade (junior), Chaunce Jenkins (freshman) and Ricky Council IV (freshman), forwards Clarence Jackson (sophomore) and Jaden Seymour (freshman), and posts Poor Bear-Chandler (junior) and Bilau (freshman).
WSU has seen six scholarship players who accounted for 44% of its scoring and 46% of its minutes last season transfer out of the program.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 6:32 PM.
.jpg)