An NBA scout sat courtside at Newman Arena, ready to watch Cornell senior guard Matt Morgan. He nodded when Morgan drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the first half. You could almost hear him think "there you go." He jotted notes as Morgan cut to the basket and didn't get the ball, sucking the defense in long enough for Josh Warren to slip out for a 3-pointer.
"He's a weapon, no doubt," the scout said at halftime. "I'm not going home yet."
If the Ivy League made a Mount Rushmore of scorers, both men's and women's, Morgan would be on it. In more than six decades of Ivy hoops, only Princeton's Bill Bradley (2,503), Penn's Diana Caramonica (2,415) and Harvard's Allison Feaster (2,312) have watched the ball go through the basket more often than Morgan.
While Morgan has rewritten the Cornell record book, he'll likely fall short of Bradley's mark - which came in just three varsity seasons and without the benefit of the 3-point line. But Morgan hasn't given up the chase - a long postseason run for the Big Red mixed with some magic could potentially get him there. And if not, Morgan will have an opportunity to make his mark in the same league where Bradley made his on a national scene.
He holds three arena scoring records (Cornell's Newman Arena, Towson's SECU Arena and Dartmouth's Leede Arena) and put points on the board more consistently than any player in conference history. He'll become the first player in the Ancient Eight to pace the circuit in scoring four straight years. His 79 consecutive games in double figures will flirt with the cutline as one of the 10 longest streaks in NCAA history. He's spent the last year passing legends of the game on that list - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson and Rick Mount are in the rearview, with "Pistol" Pete Maravich just ahead. His record will be more than double the previous Cornell mark of 34 games - and that held serve for 62 years. Since John Sheehy scored 47 points at Princeton in his final collegiate contest in 1960, the Berlin Wall was built and fell, the Cold War ended and the space race brought us to the moon. That record predated the birth of both Morgan's parents and even his high school, as well as the formalization of Ivy League basketball.
The Ivy League was still the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League back then.
"He's a tremendous shooter. You can't let him get going. He got going with a couple open shots and then he made two or three shots that not many people could make, if any could make. He can put the ball in the basket with anybody. He'll probably be the second-leading scorer in Ivy League history to a guy named Bill Bradley, who was pretty good."
Jim Boeheim, head coach at Syracuse University
Twice he sent an email with a short letter to an NBA mailbox declaring his eligibility for the NBA Draft. After his junior year, he posted a message on social media thanking friends and family for their support. He wanted it to read as a bit of a goodbye - he may not have been ready to check out of the game, but he wanted every scout that watched his film and every GM with a draft pick to know he was serious as a heart attack about basketball. If the best was still to come - and it was - he wanted to ensure everyone knew his name.
"I talked to my mom and dad about it, and they said I should speak to Coach. When I talked to Coach Earl, he looked at me and said "I don't see why you wouldn't?" I knew when I sent that email in the first time, that the players I idolized had to go through this same process. I realized I might be able to do this ... it was a confidence boost for me. It drove me even more to get better."
Morgan was not the first Ivy League men's basketball player to declare early for the NBA Draft. Yale's 6-10 center Greg Mangano tested the waters in 2011, and Bulldog guard Makai Mason did the same five years later. Both returned to school. Morgan put his first letter into the NBA the season following Mason, then again in 2018. His dream remains the same - become the first Ivy League player drafted since Penn guard for future Quaker head coach Jerome Allen was a second round pick, No. 49 overall, by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995. That pick was overshadowed by Minnesota's first rounder that season - a high schooler named Kevin Garnett.
The last Ivy League player to make their NBA debut is also the last Cornellian to don a uniform - Jeff Foote for the New Orleans Hornets in 2012.
Since then, more than a dozen Ivy League graduates have gone on to play in the G League, the NBA's developmental league, including Foote, his former teammate Ryan Wittman and the Big Red's Shonn Miller. Harvard's Jeremy Lin, the last Ivy Leaguer to make an impact on the NBA, wasn't drafted and did a number of stints in the G League before finding his spot - and creating Linsanity - with the New York Knicks in 2012. The same Knicks that drafted Bill Bradley, who made an All-Star game and won two NBA titles in the orange and blue uniform.
But Morgan wasn't a big name on the recruiting circuit out of Cox Mill HS, which had been founded just two years before he enrolled in 2011. His career there was sensational, twice earning all-state honors and becoming the first player to reach 1,600 points. On Senior Day, he watched his jersey raised to the rafters before he even completed his career. He was invited to the Carolinas All-Star Classic, winning the game's 3-point contest. Despite his obvious talents, Morgan said he was just "another 6-2 guard" to most coaches in the recruiting process. He weighed interest from a number of mid-major schools, but no offers came. None, that is, except from Cornell.
"My mom freaked out. She said 'do you know how big this is?', but I had no idea about the history, the academic stature of Cornell."
His dad Lamont, a former starter for John Thompson at Georgetown, was a great foil as he started out his career. He had won a Big East title, advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times and reached the NIT finals once. But it was his mother Paris, who pushed him in the classroom to put him in a position to attend an Ivy League school.
His first game in a Cornell uniform, Morgan looked totally at ease in scoring 20 points at ACC foe Georgia Tech. He didn't know he was starting until they got to the arena. Two games later he pumped in 24 points at home against Binghamton. Later in the year, without the services of injured guard Robert Hatter, he led Cornell to a road sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth, averaging 32.5 points, and bettered the school freshman scoring record in consecutive games - 32, then 33 points - along the way.
But while his 18.9 points per game paced the conference, the accolades were still hard to come by. Despite setting the league's rooking scoring record, the conference coaches didn't make him Rookie of the Year, and he was a second-team all-league pick.
During the offseason, the contract of head coach Bill Courtney wasn't renewed. Whispers and worry of transfer started up, but not from Morgan. He was quite content to stick with the school who believed in him. He was part of a group of student-athletes who helped interview Courtney's successor, and their unanimous choice was Princeton assistant coach Brian Earl. He was hired, and Morgan's career rocketed.
"From when I was little, my dad always taught me never to quit on anything. We have a motto in our house that we're going to finish what we start, no matter what happens ... I built so many relationships with the guys here, and you can't beat the academics. Hearing what Coach Earl had in store for us, he convinced me that staying was the right decision. Ultimately, it was clearly the right call."
In a different style and pace, Morgan's scoring number dipped very slightly, but his percentages took a big leap forward. He went from shooting 41 percent from the floor and 33 percent from the arc as a rookie to 46 percent overall and 38 percent from 3-point range. Those numbers continued to rise, culminating with his senior season. Morgan is one of just four players nationwide that average better 20 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line.
As efficient as any player in the country, Morgan "doesn't just like to take shots, he likes to make shots" Earl says. While that seems like a completely obvious point, it's a rarity among high-volume scorers in college. In fact, at 6-2, Morgan shoots better than 58 percent from the field inside the 3-point line - a mark that would stand atop the school's all-time list, ahead of 7-foot all-league and future NBA player Jeff Foote (.573).
As a junior, coaches finally recognized Morgan with a spot on the All-Ivy first team - joining just 21 other players in school history to be so honored. Of those, just five made the first team two or more times. Morgan will likely be the sixth. In his first of two seasons as team captain, the 6-2 guard led the Big Red to its first-ever appearance in the Ivy League Men’s Basketball Tournament.
"When the chips are down, we count on him to make something extraordinary happen," Earl said.
Prior to his senior year, Morgan was selected to participate in the ultra-prestigious 2018 Nike Basketball Academy in August. He was one of approximately two dozen of the nation's top players who learned from current and former NBA superstars. The academy provided premium training, a combine experience, off-court workouts, drills, film sessions and on-court competition.
He got picked up in a tinted escalade, was brought inside the hotel via a back entrance and had handlers orchestrating his every move, including a visit the Nike headquarters. While sitting next to All-American Carsen Edwards of Purdue, Morgan predicted they'd bring out LeBron James to speak with them.
Sure enough, LeBron came into the room moments later.
"When he enters the room, you feel it. The vibe just changes," Morgan said. "He spoke to us for about an hour about life skills. We took a picture with him - of course I'm in the front. I had to make myself known. I didn't want to get stuck in the back behind all those tall people."
The camp opened Morgan’s eyes as he played with NBA guys in front of scouts and GMs. Morgan teamed with Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura and San Diego State’s Jalen McDaniels to win a three-on-three tournament. He played on Kevin Durant’s team during five-on-five scrimmages.
“I was checking in and walking on the court next to Kevin Durant, 7-footer, one of the best players in the world. He looked at me and asked what school I went to and I said Cornell. “Oh, you’re the Ivy League kid they brought here.”
Playing against Durant later, Oregon’s Bol Bol set a screen for Morgan and Durant switched on to him. He backed out of him, then heard the coach yell to go at him.
“I was dribbling up toward the NBA 3-point line and the whole side of the court cleared out, so it was just me and K.D. going one-on-one. He was backing up, not thinking I was going to shoot it, and I pulled it from the NBA line. Cash, it goes in. He turned and looked at me and nods and went to get the ball. All I could think of was that I might have started something I couldn’t finish. He scored 15 straight points and they beat us.
That experience set up a senior year for the ages.
As the best players rise to the top, they don't have many weaknesses. I think he falls into that category. People say he's a great shooter, but he's also a very good passer. He's got a very high-level IQ. When you try and gameplan against him, it's hard to find things to take advantage of."
Brian Earl, the Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Men's Basketball
Morgan is averaging 22.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 51 percent from the floor, 44 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the line. All-America-type numbers. He’s a leading candidate for Ivy League Player of the Year, and became just the second Cornellian, sixth Ivy League and 574th Division I basketball player to surpass 2,000 career points. He ranks in the top 20 nationally in 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage, as well as points per game.
Morgan has piled up 18 games with at least 20 points, including 41 points at Dartmouth – the third-highest single-game total in school history. That was one of five games with at least 30 points. He has surpassed that milestone 12 times in his career. Twice this season he has hit nine 3-pointers in a game – tying the school record. He surpassed 2,000 points in a win at Towson, then broke the school scoring record the next time out in an Ivy-opening win over Columbia.
"It's been a rollercoaster ride, but like an amusement park, it's been fun and it's been thrilling. I'm looking forward to what's coming next."
After four years, 2,270 points and nearly as many breathtaking moments, we're all still watching. For as long as the lights are on in Morgan's career, we'll still be watching.
Like that NBA scout, it's not time to go home ... not just yet. There's plenty more to see.
Video: Eldon Lindsay
Photos: Dave Burbank, Eldon Lindsay, Hunter Martin, Tim McKinney, Patrick Shanahan, Brian Westerholt, Darl Zehr