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June 3, 2010
RedStorm sign Ironton's Morris
Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande women's basketball program has signed Ironton High School's Janie Morris to a national letter of intent to play basketball beginning in the 2010-11 season.
Morris, a 5-8 forward/guard, will bring a physical style of play to the Rio program, which should help shore up an area of concern on the part of the coaching staff.
During her junior season, Morris was honorable mention in basketball and 1st team all-conference and 2nd team all-district in softball.
Morris is pleased to have the chance to play collegiately. "I feel good about the opportunity to do something I love and get a good education," she said.
University of Rio Grande head coach David Smalley is pleased to bring a player like Morris, from a very successful program, into his program. "There is a rich tradition in basketball for the girls (at Ironton) and all the sports in general, it goes back to Candace Ferguson (played at Rio Grande from 2003-07), who we just loved and had a great working relationship with Candace and she ended up being a very, very good player for us," Smalley said. "Coach Graham has continued that tradition of developing girls' high school basketball players and the tremendous success they've had, making it to the state tournament. It's reassuring for me to be able to recruit young ladies that come from winning programs."
"They understand work ethic and know how to work and Janie has certainly come from those backgrounds," Smalley added. "I think Coach Graham has done a tremendous job with the program here and we're excited about Janie coming into our program."
Morris said that Coach Smalley was a big key in her choosing Rio Grande. "Coach (Smalley) is a good, structured and disciplined coach," she said. "He reminds me a lot of Coach Graham. I like coaches that are very hard and expect the best from you."
Smalley discussed where Morris will likely fit into the Rio system. "Once she learns and understands our system I think the future is wide open for her," he said. "She's a very physical type of player, thick, strong, does some really nice things. She handles the ball fairly well and I think her better years are in front of her."
"More than likely she'll probably start out in the junior varsity program as we use it as a feeder system and the sky's the limit for Janie," Smalley added. "She's a good individual, comes from a great family, a lot of support and we're excited to have this opportunity to have Janie Morris in our program and we're excited about the future."
She plans to major in Radiology.
Morris discussed her strengths as a player and also what she needs to continue to develop to be successful at the college level. "I am very athletic and for a big girl, I can guard the perimeter as well as the inside," Morris said. "I need to work on my shooting more and be a better ball-handler."
Morris explained what she knew about Rio prior to signing. "I knew it was a small school out in the country, but I hear good things about the people and staff of the school," she said.
She discussed what her goals are while attending Rio Grande. "My goal for the next four years is to go ahead with my school work and become a leader on the court," Morris said.
Janie is the daughter of Jimmy and Barb Morris of Ironton, Ohio.
Morris joins Brooke Shaw from Waynesfield-Goshen High School, Kate Hammond of Greenfield McClain High School and Chelsea Delong of Coal Grove as the current members of the 2010-11 recruiting class.
Rio Grande finished the 2009-10 campaign with a 16-15 overall record and went 7-7 in the Mid-South Conference.
