Scouting report: What Morsell's addition means for the Wahoos
Coming off an historic season that ended with disappointment in the NCAA Tournament, it's safe to say that Tony Bennett and his program (as well as its fans) needed a win. And they got a big one on Wednesday night when four-star Rivals150 standout Casey Morsell announced publicly what many had assumed for sometime. Getting a commitment from the 6-foot-2, 170-pound guard to start off a pivotal 2019 class was big for the Wahoos in a number of ways.
We caught up with Rivals.com's Corey Evans to get his point of view on the addition for Virginia, what it means for the program, and what Bennett and his staff might look to do once travel ball season starts later this month.
What do you think makes Morsell so special? Is there a player comp that comes to mind when you watch him play?
Morsell is just a complete gamer. He might not be a high-flying athlete or a quick-twitch playmaker but he is someone that understands his strengths and doesn't skew too far away from them. He has a patented mid-range game and is an underrated defender on the ball. He reminds me some of Noah Locke from the 2018 class. Maybe not as great of a shooter but a bit of a better on ball defender and distributor.
This is obviously a big deal for UVa because the Cavaliers had some pretty well-documented struggles with highly-rated guys in the 2018 class. Given the talent he'll have around him, how do you see Morsell fitting in once he arrives in Charlottesville?
He can be someone that plays both on and off the ball. Coming in as a freshman while Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome are seniors, I could see him giving good minutes off the bench as someone that can play alongside either because of his willingness to do the smaller things. But he can also be relied upon for scoring whenever he is placed off the ball as a spot-up guy. Just like Guy and Jerome, he should be labeled as a guard rather than a point or a shooting guard because of his versatility in the backcourt.
The Hoos have a number of needs in the 2019 class and being able to build around the PG of the future seems to be a big benefit to the program. How much of an impact do you think his commitment will have?
Getting Morsell before his travel season began is huge for Bennett and his staff. That is one less hole they need to fill especially with the void that will be left in the backcourt by Guy and Jerome. They really need to get better athletes on the wings and around the basket, so I'd expect for Virginia to be involved within the transfer realm this spring and invest a lot of attention in the frontcourt this summer. Someone like Oscar Tshiebwe would be ideal.
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