Early on this season, it was obvious that this year’s 49er basketball team was going to need a floor leader.  First year head coach Dan Monson came in with high expectations, but his team’s gaping deficiency was game experience.  Only four players had previously played at the D-1 level, and the one player that seemed destined to lead had spent a year on the bench.

A year after transferring from Fresno State – and being forced to sit out a season in order to become eligible after the transfer – junior guard Donovan Morris was itching to get out onto the court.  He had played two successful years as a Bulldog and was anxious to prove his abilities to the 49er faithful.  At Media Day before the season’s start, he must have smiled and muttered the word “excited” dozens of times.

And after bearing through early season frustrations and difficulties, Morris found his niche and regained the aggressiveness that made him a potent scorer at Fresno State.  He has led the team in scoring in 11 of 15 games, and this week earned his second Big West Player of the Week award after averaging 26.0 points per game and leading Long Beach to its first conference win over UC Davis.  The 49ers nearly won their conference home opener in a close loss to Pacific – a game in which Morris notched a career high 32 points.

After a shaky start, the 49ers seem to have found their go-to leader and Mr. Everything – Morris has also led the team in rebounding in 6 games.  Coach Monson inherited a dangerously young but very talented squad, and his no-nonsense, scrappy wall-to-wall style of ball is tough for a team of newcomers to adapt to.  This was evident early on, as Long Beach had major offensive problems – particularly with the shot clock winding down, and other situations that desperately called for an offensive leader.

Over the last few weeks, Morris has shown that he can be that peg in the 49er offensive chain.

And though their record still leaves room for improvement (4-11), the team that has entered Big West play is head and shoulders above the team that lost their home opener to BYU by 40 points.  The youngsters have loosened up and are less afraid to make mistakes, while Morris has taken charge as the team’s obvious scoring threat, proving that he is up to the challenge.