Morris could join Cage as first-round draft pick

Here’s one way to put in perspective the talent and national stature of Jene Morris, San Diego State’s senior guard with All-American recognition:

The 5-foot-9 jet from San Francisco is projected as a top 10 draft pick in the WNBA’s first round.

“If not, you show me 15 players ahead of her,” SDSU women’s coach Beth Burns said. “Every year she gets better and better and adds more to her game. She worked harder on her game this summer than ever before.

“She has a long game, mid-range game and rim game. She can guard any position on the floor. She can play in space and she can play on the ball. She’s bright and talented. She’s the whole package.”

A chauvinistic basketball fan, of course, might scoff at the mention of a first-round draft pick in the WNBA. But let’s keep this in perspective.

If Burns is right—that there aren’t 10 players leaving college after the 2010 season better than Jene Morris—she could end up the Michael Cage of San Diego State women’s basketball. Cage, the 14th pick of the NBA draft in 1984 by the Los Angeles Clippers, is the SDSU’s only NBA first-round draft pick.

A year ago Morris, in her second SDSU season since transferring from Cal, was honorable mention All-American as she led the Aztecs (24-8, 13-3 Mountain West Conference) to a share of the MWC title with Utah.

She led the team with 16.1 points a game, scoring 20 or more eight times and 30 or more three times. She led the MWC in steals for the second straight year and was named the first team as well as Defensive Player of the Year.

Morris led SDSU to the NCAA tournament, ending a 12-year drought, and an opening round win for the first time in 14 seasons when she scored 35 points in a 76-70 win over DePaul.

But the memory that fueled Morris’ summer workouts in the weight room gaining strength was SDSU’s second-round loss to then-No. 2-ranked Stanford, 77-49.

Morris, and the Aztecs in general, were overpowered by Stanford’s bigger and stronger lineup.

“I think last year I relied on my speed,” Morris said. “If I’m going to try and play at the next level, I have to be able to handle contact when I go in the paint. That can be a different aspect to my game. I relied on my defensive skills and 3-point shot, but I didn’t attack the basket. I want to get contact and get to the free throw line for more free throws.”

Last year Morris shot 450 times (hitting 188 for .418 percent), but she only went to the free throw line 80 times (making 50 for .725).

Morris wasn’t alone in recognizing the need to add strength to play with teams with elite national rankings. The Aztecs were strong enough to share the MWC title and are picked as the preseason favorite. But Morris said the memory of another Stanford-like matchup kept her teammates in the weight room.

“The biggest difference when we played Stanford was size and strength,” Morris said. “That really helped playing them and knowing what we had to work on going into this season. As a team we were in the weight room all summer. It’s not necessarily going to help us in conference, but it will in the post-season.”

SDSU opens its season Nov. 13 at UC Irvine and plays its first home game Nov. 17 at the University of San Diego at renamed Viejas Arena.

Morris could even rise to first-team All-American honors or consideration for national player of the year. She’s on the preseason watch list for the Wade Award, the top honor by the NCAA in women’s basketball.

“Your team has to be successful for those awards, but she’s in an elite category,” Burns said. “What she makes her special is she is at her best when the moment demands it the most; not everybody can do that. When it’s money time, everybody knows she going to get the ball.”

Contact Tom Shanahan at shanny4055@aol.com.