There’s a story in basketball circles that doesn’t get told often enough. At a recruiting event in South Carolina, a man becomes hungry, moves away to get something to eat, and unintentionally stumbles onto a court where a teenager named Temetrius Morant is playing a 3-on-3 game. James Kane, then an assistant at Murray State, couldn’t have known what he was watching. But he stayed. And that moment — that accidental pause — may have set the course of an entire NBA career.
Ja Morant, born August 10, 1999, in Dalzell, South Carolina, was not supposed to be this good this fast. The DNA was present because both of his parents were basketball players: his father was a collegiate player and his mother was a high school point guard. When Jamie became pregnant, his father, Tee, abandoned his dream of playing professionally abroad. He stayed home, became a barber, and built a basketball court of sorts in the backyard. That’s where Ja learned. Step-back jumpers, body control, and how to compete with larger, older children without giving up. It was genuine, scrappy, and informal.
Growing from 5-foot-9 to 6 feet tall, Morant became the school’s all-time top scorer at Crestwood High School in Sumter. In his final two seasons, he averaged 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game, which seems almost unbelievable in retrospect. Major college programs, however, hardly took notice of him. To be honest, it’s still a little confusing. His high school coach, Dwayne Edwards, later said he felt Morant was driven by that feeling of being doubted. There’s something in that. Overlooked athletes either fade or catch fire. The latter was obviously done by Morant.
His Ja Morant education in the formal sense began at Murray State University in Kentucky, a mid-major program in the Ohio Valley Conference. Not exactly a factory for first-round picks in the NBA. However, the fit was perfect. Matt McMahon, the head coach, was renowned for helping players grow by allowing them to play freely and at their own speed. Morant’s father had told him quite bluntly, “Go where they want you, not where you want to be.” Perhaps the best piece of advice in the entire narrative is that.
The first year was somewhat impressive. Each game, he averaged 12.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Although those aren’t particularly impressive figures, the assists placed 14th in the country. Murray State qualified for the NCAA Tournament after winning the conference. Morant performed admirably. Some NBA scouts had circled his name, but they weren’t yet raising red flags.
Then came the summer leading up to his sophomore year. Morant received an invitation to attend Chris Paul’s Elite Guard Camp in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is the kind of gathering where potential players either make an impression or quietly vanish. He demonstrated his abilities. He was being discussed by analysts as a possible top-five draft pick by December 2018. Overall, some people whispered first. It’s possible that even Morant himself hadn’t quite anticipated that turn.
One of the most outstanding sophomore seasons in contemporary college basketball ensued. He became the first Division I player to average at least 20 points and 10 assists in a single season since the NCAA started keeping track of assists in 1984, averaging 24.5 points, 10 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. The record stood alone. It still does. He recorded the first triple-double in tournament play since 2012 when he scored 17 points, dished out 16 assists, and pulled down 11 rebounds against Marquette in the NCAA Tournament. He was mentioned in a tweet by Ric Flair. Murray State had a 28-5 record.
Looking back at Ja Morant’s schooling, it seems like everything happened just as it should have. A bigger school might have rushed him, buried him on the bench, or forced him into a system that didn’t suit his game. Murray State gave him space. He taught them about history. A young man who nearly fell between the cracks became the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and went on to become one of the league’s most explosive point guards, somewhere between a backyard in Dalzell and a tournament run in March.
It wasn’t a straight line. Seldom is it for such players. However, that’s exactly what makes it worthwhile.
