TicketsFeb. 2, 2009
By MARK SCHMETZER
Angel Morgan can't deny it. She's a senior, and she can't believe it. She can't believe that she's in her fourth year at the University of Cincinnati and her fourth season with the Bearcat women's basketball team.
"I actually can't," she said. "It went by really fast. I have to admit it."
To Morgan, it seems like just yesterday that she was part of what shaped up to be a solid recruiting class. She was Clark County (Ohio) Miss Basketball after a senior season at Springfield North High School in which she averaged 20.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals. She earned honorable mention on the Associated Press Division I all-state team.
Her recruiting classmates presented similarly impressive resumes. Michelle Jones was Ohio's Division I AP Player of the Year. Shelly Bellman earned honorable mention on two high school All-America teams and was an Amateur Athletic Union All-American. Kahla Roudebush was first-team all-state in basketball-mad Indiana, where she was Hamilton County's Player of the Year. Jill Stephens was a Street and Smith's magazine All-American and a three-time all-state pick in West Virginia.
In the four seasons since they arrived in Clifton, more has happened to this group than would seem possible in what, to Morgan, seems like such a short amount of time. Jones and Bellman both missed all of last season as medical redshirts. Roudebush missed all but one game of her sophomore season with an injury. Only Morgan and Stephens are seniors when they're supposed to be, based on a normal four-season schedule, though Morgan's road has been anything but smooth.
The 5-foot-8 guard served as a backup at both backcourt positions as a freshman before moving into the starting lineup as a sophomore, when she started 21 of UC's 29 games. Last season, under new coach J. Kelley Hall, she again was relegated to sort of a "super substitute" role, which she seemed destined to fill again at the beginning of the current season.
"I considered my job to be to just try and keep the team up," she said. "I had no problem coming off the bench, and when I got in there, I had to play to my ability, play my hardest, and keep the team up."
Morgan's role showed signs of changing three games into the current season. After playing a total of 27 minutes while the Bearcats were splitting their first two games, Morgan started and spent 35 minutes on the court in UC's 60-59 non-conference win over Toledo on Nov. 23 at Fifth Third Arena. She scored eight points and had nine rebounds, all on defense, while making her first start since last season's opener against Michigan and playing more than in any game since logging 36 minutes in the Bearcats' 62-44 upset of then-No. 24 DePaul on Jan. 14, 2007.
"She earned her first start of the year," said Hall, whose team faces Xavier in the annual Skyline Chili Women's Crosstown Shootout Dec. 7 at Fifth Third Arena. "We just really need good solid defense, seven to eight rebounds and five to nine points from her."
Part of the reason for Hall's new outlook on Morgan was based on the player's physical conditioning, which suffered last season while she was dealing with a knee injury that wasn't severe enough to keep her off the court, but was definitely a factor when she was on it.
"She's gotten herself into pretty good shape," Hall said. "She has rebounded and defended well. She's slimmed down. She lost about 10 pounds. Now, she wins a lot of our sprints. She's healthy after she had that nagging thing all last year — and she's playing with more confidence right now. She's playing with a lot of confidence."
Hall frankly admits that, with seven faces that are new to him, he and his coaching staff still are trying to figure out the best combinations.
"We had one whole less week of practice this year," Hall pointed out. "We're still moving kids around and playing multiple positions, trying to get it solidified and see who does what."
Since four of those seven new faces are freshmen, the Bearcat coaches value the experience of seniors such as Morgan and Stephens.
"We need leadership out of them," he said. "Starting Angel allows both players to be on the court at the same time."
Morgan believes her varied past has given her a depth of experience that should prove valuable.
"I'd have to say that every year, for me, has improved," she said. "I've been in a different position every year, and we had a new coaching staff come in. I feel like, every year, I've grown, and I think I've grown so much that I'm able to be a leader. I thank God for that — that I can help the young ones, because I've been on that road."
One of the most valuable lessons Morgan has learned is self-discipline. Her exemplary high school career, which she said generated interest from Illinois in the Big Ten and every Big East program except Connecticut, left her feeling more confident than she probably should have been upon arriving at UC.
"I'm not going to lie," she said. "I had problems with being told what to do on the court. I felt like, coming out of high school, that I didn't need discipline. I didn't need coaches getting on me. I was a 'star player.'
"I think I've changed. I'm staying more focused. I know the coaches are here to help me. It took me until my senior year. It took me until now to realize that they want nothing but good for me."
Morgan now is looking forward to playing a role in UC earning respect in the Big East. The Bearcats were picked by conference coaches to finish 15th out of 16 teams, and she knows that the only people who can change that impression are the players themselves.
"I think when we first got the news, we decided that you can't really change that part of it," she said. "All you can do is look forward to the future. We can make a difference. We have to make a difference as a team."
Morgan also is looking forward to graduation. She is majoring in criminal justice and psychology, disciplines she hopes will lead to a career with the FBI.
"When I first got here, I wanted to do something in communications, but I changed my mind at the end of my freshman year," she said.
Call it another learning experience.
Morgan, who actually made an official visit to Illinois, hasn't regretted her decision to sign with the Bearcats — even with the ups and downs.
"I didn't really want to go too far away from home, and that's what narrowed it down originally," she said. "The experience has been everything I hoped it would be. I've had downfalls and stuff like that, but thank God, I've been able to stay on my feet and become the person that I am. Cincinnati helped me become that.
"I don't know where I'm going after this year. Wherever God leads me, that's where I'll go."
(This story was previously printed in the Bearcat Sports Digest.)