For Future Wahoo Casey Morsell, It’s Rise And Grind Every Day

In Washington, D.C.’s hotbed of high school basketball talent – where there are plenty of players to choose from – Virginia chose Casey Morsell.

Better yet, Morsell chose Virginia back.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound combo guard from St. John’s College H.S. continued to separate himself from the crowd over the summer for one reason — he’s addicted to the grind.

“I really want to be the best, and I’ll do whatever it takes to be the best,” Morsell said in an interview this week. “Part of it is being addicted to the grind, so all I really do is work out, watch film, just figure out ways to be great, or improve. I work out so much that if I don’t work out I just don’t feel right, and just adding that into my daily arsenal is just something that I’ve always done.”

Tony Bennett and his staff were sold on Morsell’s abilities early, and offered the rising senior prior to his junior season. Morsell verbally committed in early April, choosing the ‘Hoos over Oklahoma State and Penn State, among several others.

“[Virginia’s coaches] said they liked my ability to create offensively, create for others, my defense, how hard I compete, my IQ, versatility — pretty much they liked a lot, but they always tell me to consistently improve and that’s what I’m doing,” Morsell said. “It definitely feels good not only when one or two coaches want you, but when all coaches are fully invested and care about you.”

Morsell’s high school coach, Pat Behan, believes that Casey will be a perfect fit in Bennett’s system on both ends of the floor.

“I think offensively, he’s a kid that can create his own shot, he can get to the rim and finish in the paint, but also if you give him any sort of space he can make a 3. He can get you in a little bit of a jab series and create space,” said Behan. “He’s a multi-layer scorer, so offensively that’s what makes him go, what makes him special. And then defensively, he’s really just gotten better each year. He buys into the system, which you have to do to play for Coach Bennett at UVa. You’ve got to be ready to defend if you want to see the floor, so he’s taken on that persona and it’s been good.”

Behan holds a team yoga session at 7 a.m. on Saturdays, which is followed by an open gym session. Last season, Morsell arrived and was a full participant, the same day he was planning a trip to Charlottesville for an unofficial visit — one of three he has made to UVa.

“So this is a Saturday in the early fall and he had been in the gym early in the morning getting shots up at like 5:45 before yoga starts. Goes through that workout, stays and plays pickup with the guys, and then leaves,” recalled Behan. “Most kids would’ve opted just to take the whole day off if they were traveling.”

Morsell’s hard work has certainly paid off. In his final run through the AAU season this spring and summer, he helped lead D.C.-based Team Takeover to the Nike EYBL Peach Jam championship as well as a victory at “The 8” tournament in Las Vegas, which combines the best teams from all AAU circuits across the nation.

In addition to attending the NBPA Top 100 Camp at John Paul Jones Arena, Morsell was invited to Colorado to hone his skills and compete at the highest level against some of the best players in the world in his age group at the Team USA U17 tryouts. He made the cut to the final 18, but wasn’t able to secure a spot on the final roster — a team that cruised to a gold medal at the FIBA World Cup last month. Still, for Morsell, the experience was priceless.

“It meant a lot, just going out there and learning — not only playing against, but learning from such great competition,” said Morsell. “Going out there playing against them can only get you better and it definitely helped me in terms of playing with Takeover. I was definitely more vocal, I did a better job rebounding, just doing the little things. That’s really what [USA camp] was, it was just them focusing on the little things — who takes plays off, stuff like that. That definitely helped me in my game going into it, and then plus watching film and just learning the game from a different eye, from a different view.”

No stranger to picking out his mistakes on film, Morsell has watched a ton over the years with his older brother Mike, who recently graduated from Towson and is ready to embark on a professional career overseas.

The younger Morsell has absorbed as much as possible while growing up battling it out with the stiff competition throughout the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia) area and it all adds to his strong commitment to never be satisfied with any aspect of his game.

“You’re playing at a high level your whole life, everybody’s always good, and it can really help you because there’s so much you can learn and you always have that sense that you always need to get better, you always need to improve,” said Morsell.

Morsell still keeps in touch with a lot of players that came up in the DMV, including former UVa standout Darion Atkins, who is presently playing abroad professionally. He loves having that connection and bond with guys from his hometown and added that he still learns a lot from Atkins to this day.

The nation’s top recruiting services are picking up on Morsell’s steady improvement, as he has jumped from outside of the top 100 into the top 70 on nearly every list, although he admits he doesn’t take the rankings too seriously, even if others point it out to him.

“My confidence has always been the same,” said Morsell. “I think it was in March and 247 came out with a ranking — and I’m not the type of guy to be focusing on rankings or anything like that — but there were so many people that ended up sending [the ranking] to me and I think I was like 114th or something like that and my confidence was still the same. I just worked 10 times harder, and I’m like top 75 in the country now? I don’t know where I’m at now, but I’m not out of the top 100, so my confidence is still the same as it was back then.”

Sounds like a Bennett kind of guy. Turns out there were a lot of matches between the two, so much that Morsell rattled off all of the reasons he chose UVa.

“Such a great coaching staff and just the family culture that’s inside the locker room — all the players and coaches are really close with one another — and it kind of reminds me of Takeover,” Morsell said. “That’s how it is at Takeover, everybody is really unselfish and is happy for one another. The players, they look forward to playing. They look forward to practicing. And then just the culture outside of the locker room, with such a great fan base and great academics, you’re playing at a high level so you get the best of both worlds.”

As a junior, Morsell averaged 13.5 points and five rebounds per game, while earning first-team nods on both USA Today All-District of Columbia and All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

In the EYBL, Morsell averaged 12 points a game, including 45 percent from beyond the arc (29 for 65), leading Team Takeover to an unprecedented 16-0 run through its schedule.

There was a lot to like about this kid all along, not just his scoring ability or his 6-9 wingspan. His workmanlike approach and professional attitude combined with a desire to always improve could equal big things for the Wahoos for years to come.