LSU star Aneesah Morrow ought to be mentioned as a nationwide participant of the yr in ladies’s basketball

When this ladies’s faculty basketball season started, most folk figured that the race for the nationwide participant of the yr would come down to 3 returning guards: UConn’s Paige Bueckers, USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.

And certainly, all three gamers have been mightily spectacular this season and sure secured spots on the All-American First Staff. A fourth participant rapidly rose to the highest to affix them in that debate and dialog in UCLA heart Lauren Betts, who’s averaging about 20 factors and 10 rebounds per sport and is the nucleus of a Bruins’ squad that began the yr 23-0 and appears like a legit contender for the nationwide title.

But it surely appears like there’s a fifth participant we ought to be speaking about for a spot on the All-American group, and somebody who’s price mentioning within the nationwide participant of the yr race. Someway, someway, a participant from a marquee program in maybe the perfect convention within the sport has flown below the radar.

LSU’s Aneesah Morrow is price speaking about and deserves some consideration for prestigious nationwide honors.

Practically a yr after the departures of stars like Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith, Kim Mulkey’s Tigers have a sterling 27-2 file, are ranked seventh within the AP Prime 25 Ballot, are a lock to once more host NCAA Event video games throughout its first weekend, and seen as a group that would make the Closing 4 ought to the bracket break of their favor.

And definitely the play of Flau’Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams has been essential to the Tigers’ success, however a big portion of the credit score for LSU not skipping a beat in its post-Reese period ought to go to Morrow.

Take into account that Morrow is averaging 17.9 factors and 14.3 rebounds per sport this season – the latter of which leads all of Division I. These numbers are noteworthy as a result of it reveals that no participant within the nation is scoring and rebounding — collectively, collectively — on the charge and as effectively as Morrow is. No different participant within the nation this season averages even 15 factors and 12 rebounds per sport. Solely two others – Kendall Bostic of Illinois and Present Uchenna of Southern Illinois – come shut: Bostic averages 15.5 and 11.3, awhile Uchenna posts 14.3 and 13.1, respectively.

Since 2009, Morrow is one in every of simply eight gamers to common no less than 17 factors and 14 boards in a single season. And by the way in which, none of them shot as nicely from the free throw line as Morrow has this yr, the place she’s making charity stripe photographs at a 74.5 p.c clip. Morrow additionally has the fewest turnovers of anybody on that listing – which incorporates Reese, her former LSU teammate – and solely Judie Lomax of Columbia in 2009-10 had extra steals per sport than Morrow’s 2.5.

One might make the case that no participant means as a lot to their group as Morrow means to LSU this season. The 6-foot-1 ahead from Chicago’s Simeon Excessive Faculty accounts for 20.9 p.c of the Tigers scoring and 30.3 p.c of their rebounding. By comparability, Betts is accountable for about 25.2 p.c of UCLA’s scoring and 22.2 p.c of its rebounding, whereas Watkins is sweet for 29.5 p.c of USC’s scoring and 16.3 p.c of its rebounding.

Morrow averages extra steals than Watkins and has a greater defensive ranking and extra defensive win shares than Betts.

And it’s price noting that Morrow is accumulating her stats within the SEC, not the Huge Ten. Each conferences are robust, to make sure, however no convention is as top-heavy because the SEC. When the NCAA Event choice committee launched its high 16 seeds earlier this month, it included six SEC groups and simply three Huge Ten groups.

LSU has simply two losses on its resume this season, coming in street video games at South Carolina and Texas. However the Tigers didn’t fall in these video games due to Morrow. Towards the Gamecocks, she was the best scorer and rebounder on the ground with 15 factors and 16 boards. At Texas, she posted 15 and 20. These video games have been shut heading deep into the fourth quarter due to Morrow.

If these stats aren’t ok, take it from the coaches who’ve game-planned for Morrow and largely been unsuccessful in stopping her:

• South Carolina’s Daybreak Staley: “Aneesah is a extremely, actually arduous guard. I instructed our group there isn’t anyone that we’ve performed this yr that’s going to play like she performs. I don’t assume there’s going to be one other individual that performs like her… She had her manner with us.”
• Seton Corridor’s Tony Bozzella: “Her effort is implausible. I imply, she’s continuously rebounding the ball,” he mentioned. “ her want, her understanding of the place the rebounds are going to go… Her motor is second to none.”
• Vanderbilt’s Shea Ralph: “I’ve been actually blessed to teach some superb gamers in my profession. I do keep in mind when she transferred to LSU from DePaul. I used to be like, ‘Rattling, we’re going to must play in opposition to her.’ As a result of I keep in mind what she did at DePaul, and the way arduous she performed. There’s no substitute for what that children have inside her coronary heart… You’ll be able to’t coach that. You both have that otherwise you don’t. That child has lots of stuff inside her that makes her a professional proper now. She’s a monster, in a great way.”

The subsequent time Morrow notches a double-double, will probably be the a hundredth of her profession. Just one different participant within the historical past of Division I NCAA ladies’s basketball has hit that mark in Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris. Morrow is presently sixth all-time in complete rebounds and can probably end her profession rating because the third-best glass cleaner in ladies’s faculty basketball.

With or with out the popularity of nationwide awards, Morrow – who began taking part in faculty ball at DePaul earlier than transferring to LSU two years in the past – goes to complete her profession as among the finest publish gamers ever. She’s rewriting file books, her stats are nothing in need of eye-popping, and her play leads opposing coaches to bathe her with compliments.

If all that doesn’t add as much as being included within the conversations for nationwide participant of the yr, then what does?

Mulkey summed it finest on her radio present not too long ago, providing this when requested about Morrow:

“Do I’ve to say any extra about her that hasn’t been mentioned?”