MAKING HIS POINT : Mike Morris Passes Up Scholarship Offers to Walk On at Stanford

Mike Morris knew what he wanted.

The former Mater Dei High School basketball standout was looking for the best academic university in California and a strong basketball program.

Initially, the 6-5 guard turned down scholarship offers from several Division-I colleges: Providence, Northwestern, Air Force, Texas Christian and Navy.

Then he turned down all scholarship offers. Instead, Morris will report to Stanford University as a walk-on candidate for the basketball team in September.

In an era of earning a scholarship at any cost, Morris has turned down offers of a free education for the privilege of paying to attend one of the most expensive universities in the nation.

The decision was a matter of academics. Morris, who graduated with a 4.2 grade-point average, plans to major in premed and has most of his first year paid through loans, grants and scholarships. Before leaving for Stanford, he will play in The Times Orange County all-star basketball game Sunday in UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

“Academics has always come first in my family,” Morris said. “It’s been drilled in my head since the day I started kindergarten. A degree from Stanford is my No. 1 goal.”

Of course, if Morris should make Stanford’s basketball team, he would receive a grant-in-aid to cover all or part of Stanford’s $21,000 annual tuition. Morris will have a difficult time gaining a spot on the 14-man roster, but he once faced a challenge earning a starting spot on Mater Dei’s basketball team.

Morris transferred from Edison to Mater Dei after his sophomore season. Morris’ major sport at Edison was football, and he left there thinking he had a better opportunity of becoming the starting quarterback at Mater Dei.

“I went to Mater Dei for football,” he said. “I played basketball at Edison, but when I reported for basketball at Mater Dei, I was really scared.

“I was in a sink-or-swim situation at a big-time program. The coaches didn’t know me, and I didn’t know the players. I started at the bottom.”

Gary McKnight, Mater Dei’s basketball coach, wasn’t overly impressed with Morris the first time he met him. McKnight thought Morris was “too skinny and stiff” to have an impact on his program and assigned him to the junior varsity team under Coach Jeff Andrade.

“Jeff kept telling me, ‘This guy is too good to be playing JVs,’ ” McKnight said. “At the end of the summer, we decided to bring him up to the varsity, but I still wondered if he would have much of an impact.”

Morris worked diligently with guard Mike Hopkins, now playing at Syracuse University. The players practiced one-on-one against each other daily and eventually Morris took Hopkins’ starting position midway through the season.

“Mike Hopkins gave me a lot of help,” Morris said. “We both became better players practicing against each other. He had a falling out with Coach McKnight, and I moved into the starting position.”

Morris capped a fine junior year by scoring 15 points in the Southern Section 5-A championship-game victory over Bishop Amat.

Morris anticipated a big senior season and worked in a weight program under Marv Marinovich to improve his strength and leaping ability. He aggravated a bone in his left shin, but continued to play basketball.

When the pain in his left leg persisted, he went to a doctor. X-rays were negative, but a bone scan determined that Morris had suffered a stress fracture. Doctors estimated he would be sidelined for two weeks.

Morris missed the opening 10 games of his senior year and was never 100% healthy. He had problems adjusting to a new cast of players with only guard Dylan Rigdon returning from the 1987-88 championship team.

When Morris returned to the lineup, he averaged 14.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, but Mater Dei was upset in the quarterfinals of the 5-AA playoffs by St. Monica. It marked the first time Mater Dei had failed to win a basketball championship in five years.

Despite the injury, Morris received dozens of scholarship offers. He declined many, telling coaches he didn’t want to play outside the state. He made recruiting trips to UC Irvine, California and Navy, and then decided to drive to Palo Alto with his father to visit Stanford.

“I knew I wanted to go there right away,” he said. “The school was so spread out and beautiful. My father and I talked with Coach (Mike) Montgomery and he was very up-front with us. He was a walk-on in college, too.”

Montgomery was impressed with Morris’ academic standing and the fact that he was very selective about his college choice. He told Morris he would not have a scholarship to offer until after Morris’ sophomore season, but discussed the possibility of redshirting during his second year.

“Mike came up here and felt comfortable with the campus and environment,” Montgomery said. “He feels he can compete in our program, and I know he’s a pretty good player.”

Montgomery thinks the chances of Morris making Stanford’s team as a walk-on are better than at most other schools, simply because Stanford is unlike most other schools.

“I can’t find 10 players in L.A. who I can recruit because of our admission standards,” Montgomery said. “It’s difficult to find 10 players in the state that I can recruit.

“Mike Morris has a good chance of making the team, but more importantly, he has his priorities straight. He knows that even if he doesn’t make the team, he’s enrolled in a great university with a good future ahead of him.”