Cal's Visit to Philly Commits Morris Twins (Again)

Twin recruits sticking with Tigers

By Dan Wolken
July 18, 2007

Twins Marcus and Markieff Morris are still committed to play basketball at the University of Memphis after all.

Their mother, Angel Morris, told The Commercial Appeal by phone on Wednesday that her sons will indeed honor their commitment to the Tigers and be on campus in the fall of 2008. On Saturday, a story in the Philadelphia Daily News quoted Marcus Morris saying the twins were re-opening their recruitment and would look at other schools.

That changed after a weekend visit from Memphis coach John Calipari and subsequent discussions amongst family members, Angel Morris said.

"They wanted to see other schools, see what was going on with other schools," she said. "But as we sat down as a family and talked about it, everything worked out, and (Memphis) is exactly where we’re going and what we’re doing."

The Morris twins, both top-100 prospects, signed letters of intent with Memphis last fall and graduated from Prep Charter in Philadelphia this spring. When they signed, however, it was with the understanding that they would go to prep school for a year, re-sign with Memphis, then enroll in college in 2008.

But that plan seemed to be off track momentarily when the twins said they were going to consider other schools. Upon hearing that news, Calipari and assistant coach Derek Kellogg immediately flew to Philadelphia to re-affirm their interest in the players.

"He came and said nothing has changed with us, we still want you," Angel Morris said. "The boys were satisfied with that. That’s where we’re going to stay at. By the end of the month, we’ll definitely have a prep school. They're going to prep school, and in September of '08 they’ll be on the Memphis campus."
That's certainly good news for the Memphis coaching staff, which had backed off recruiting several top players at the forward positions because they had the twins on board.

"I was never worried because I knew why they chose Memphis in the first place," Calipari said Wednesday.