Senior guard Sade Morris grew up in Norman, Okla., before she came to Kansas to play for the Jayhawks. Morris says that she felt at home in Lawrence and says many people were shocked that she did not go to the University of Oklahoma.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
This is the kind of chemistry that most couples can’t even sniff at.
Senior guard Sade Morris grew up in Norman, Okla., before she came to Kansas to play for the Jayhawks. Morris says that she felt at home in Lawrence and says many people were shocked that she did not go to the University of Oklahoma.
Leaving doubt at the front door, Krysten Boogaard executes her primary objective and powerfully secures the rebound. She then hits her outlet, Angel Goodrich, who is already mid-sprint, baby steps before half-court. Goodrich rushes to the free throw line, corralling defenders like a commanding shepherd before flipping it to Aishah Sutherland on the lower block. Sutherland pump fakes toward the hoop and flings it to Danielle McCray at the right elbow of the three-point line. With no time to waste, McCray kicks it to the corner to a wide open Sade Morris. Years past hesitation, Morris quickly fires. The basketball gracefully soars in the air, spins on its own axis, reaches its peak trajectory and like a bird away from its nest, falls into the hoop, returning home once more. Nothing but net. Another swish, another reminder: Guard Sade Morris blends like a chameleon in Lawrence. Funny how she came from the enemy.
It isn’t exactly treason. That would be a bit of an exaggeration. But it isn’t too far off either. You see, Sade Morris didn’t always bleed crimson and blue. To be precise, a few years back that blue replaced an unwelcoming cream, a color that is harmless by itself but embodies rivalry when aligned with crimson. That’s right, Sade Morris was born and raised in Norman, Okla. — Sooner Country.
“Sooner born, Sooner bred,” Morris says.
The lanky guard with the spot-on jump-shot grew up like any young Normanite hooper.
“I was a Sooner fan,” she says. “I watched every sport.”
When Morris was 6 years old, she moved to a new neighborhood and started playing ball. Before long, the young Morris was looking for as much basketball as she could get.
“I went around knocking on doors,” she says.
Then one day, she knocked on the door of opportunity.
“I knocked on the door of a young girl, her name was Aubrey and her father was an AAU coach,” Morris says. “He found out that I liked basketball, so I ended up joining his team.”
The rest is history.
Meanwhile, Morris’ Sooner-ship was strengthening with the program.
“I went to every home basketball game,” Morris says. “I grew up watching Laneisha Caufield, Rosalind Ross and Stacey Dales play at OU.”
In 2002, the Oklahoma women’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA national championship game. While the Sooners lost 82-70 to Sue Bird and her 39-0 Connecticut Huskies, the team nonetheless influenced Morris in her dreams of being a college basketball player.
“The OU women’s basketball team was who I looked up to,” Morris says. “They gave me the inspiration to continue to play and play in college.”
Morris wanted to be just like her hometown heroes.
“I just thought, I’m gonna be a Sooner one day,” Morris says.
In her junior year at Norman High School, Morris led her team to a state championship. Everyone was convinced that her glory as a Sooner was up next. That’s when Morris threw a curveball and went north to Kansas.
“I came here to try to make a difference here for the women’s team,” Morris says.
With such a surprising decision, her family and friends were understandably caught off-guard, to say the least.
“Everybody was shocked,” Morris says. “They couldn’t believe that I actually chose not to go to OU.”
As a star athlete at Norman High School, Morris’ skills were only magnified for nearby Oklahoma University. The school showed heavy interest in the promising talent.
She says the school recruited her extensively, but in the end it came down to Kansas and Oklahoma. At first, Morris simply desired a change of scenery.
“I wanted to get out and grow up on my own,” Morris says. “I wanted to be around something different.”
Then she found Lawrence.
“When I came here for my official visit, I just felt like I was at home,” Morris said.
She says the friendly demeanor of Lawrencians was a breath of fresh air.
“I’m usually a shy person. I usually don’t talk at all when I meet new people,” Morris says. “But I came here and it was like, ‘Oh hey, how you doin?’ ‘Nice to meet you.’”
Then she felt the local love for basketball and the state champion was lured away from Oklahoma to Lawrence, which she says is more of a basketball town.
Now in her senior season at Kansas, Morris is a three-time letter winner and one of the top scoring options for the 20th-ranked women’s basketball team. She started every game as a sophomore and junior and was named the best defender at the 2009 team reception.
After posting 17 points per game during the five-game stretch up until last year’s loss in the WNIT championship game, Morris was named to the 2009 WNIT All-Tournament Team.
Morris is ready to watch the accolades keep piling and she’s brought one of her biggest fans along for the ride.
“It kinda opened my eyes to Kansas because she was coming here,” freshman point guard and fellow Oklahoman Angel Goodrich said.
But that wasn’t the start of Morris’ unofficial recruiting career.
Looking back on her days before Lawrence, senior guard/forward Danielle McCray still remembers a phone call that she had with Morris before they committed.
“Hey, if you’re gonna be a Jayhawk, then I’m gonna be a Jayhawk,” McCray said.
Morris and McCray were roommates back in their freshmen years. Today they are a top tier guard tandem and the two leading scorers for Kansas.
“We’ve been that duo here,” McCray said.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson has had the pleasure of watching the pair grow as athletes and as people.
“Those are two awfully special kids that have carried the program,” Henrickson said.
Morris grew up a true Sooner fan, idolizing the neighborhood sports legends that shuffled with the years.
“Every game I got everybody’s autograph,” Morris says.
But now it’s Morris’ turn for all the fanfare.
“It’s kind of weird to take a step back, knowing that I’m at KU, and I’m signing autographs for kids,” she says.
It couldn’t have been a better fit.
“We’re thrilled that she went from one Big 12 town to another,” Henrickson said.
So is she.
“I love Lawrence,” Morris said. “I won’t leave here.”
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