During the spring of 2011, Dom Morris was just a freshman enjoying the ride as the Boston University men’s basketball team traveled to Tulsa, Okla., to play in the NCAA Tournament.
That year, the Terriers took on the No. 1-seeded Kansas University in the second round and were able to stay competitive with the Jayhawks for most of the contest. Going into the half, the Terriers were only down by four points, largely because of a stellar scoring output from then-senior guard John Holland.
“It was great, we worked hard as a team to make it there,” Morris said. “It felt like we deserved to be there.”
Unfortunately, the Terriers could not capitalize on their great first half and they fell by a score of 72–53. Morris had nine points and an assist in that game.
Despite the loss, to this day, the memory of Mar. 18, 2011, is one of Morris’ fondest memories as he and the Terriers enter the 2013-14 season.
“I still to this day think we could compete with Kansas and if we played again, it’d be a different story,” Morris said.
Nearly three years later, Morris is in a completely different situation. In his time at BU, he has seen a coaching change and an influx of new players, and he has become one of the team’s biggest leaders.
Because of his size and potential, Morris started in 18 games during his freshman year, averaging 23.2 minutes per game and posting a .418 field-goal percentage while managing to grab 147 rebounds.
It was not an easy for road for Morris the next season, as he had to adjust to the new basketball culture that would emerge under BU coach Joe Jones in the 2011-12 season. Jones made it a priority of making sure that Morris was in prime shape to be a great asset to the team.
“You’re talking about all year round watching your diet, doing extra training to be fit,” Jones said. “A guy that size really has to watch those things, and Morris has done a fabulous job of staying on track with that.”
The summer leading up to his sophomore year, Morris worked on his technique, which, coupled with being in better shape, showed on the stats sheet. During the 2011–12 season, Morris’ field-goal percentage increased to .494 while he pulled down 42 more rebounds and nearly doubled his assist total.
With a slew of freshmen joining the team last season, it was unclear who was going to emerge as the leader and key player on the team, but one thing Morris said he always kept in mind was the work ethic and mentality instilled in him from older players.
“I learned a lot from all the guys that have been through here,” Morris said. “It was basically just having a positive attitude and work hard every day, because you never know when your number is going to be called.”
In 2012, Morris’ number was called and he put any doubts to rest right away, as the Newark, Del., native established himself as a dependable big man for the team.
Before the start of the season, he was named one of the captains of the team. He boosted his field-goal percentage all the way up to .574, improved his free throw shooting from 62 percent (in 2011-12) to 77 percent, and only committed 43 turnovers despite receiving an increase in playing time.
“He’s a great teammate, just a really good person that has great character and I think that’s the thing that I love most about him,” Jones said. “Now days away before starting his final season, Morris knows he is a leader on this BU squad, whether he expected it or not, and attributes his growth to the players and staff that came before him.”
Morris echoed Jones’ statement regarding his leadership role on the team.
“I’m the leader of the team,” Morris said. “When Coach [Pat] Chambers left [after the 2010-11 season] and the new coaching staff and players came in, I sort of had to step up. … Everything I did affected the team, so now I’m just working harder and taking it day by day.”
As leader of the Terriers, Morris will be leading a young team that is expected to have one of its most promising campaigns in years. The 2013-14 team consists of four freshmen, six sophomores, three juniors and only three seniors and was unanimously chosen to win the Patriot League in an official preseason coaches’ poll.
Despite being picked to win the conference this season, Morris does not feel much of the pressure that comes with being labeled the team to beat.
“I guess there’s some pressure, and the pressure that we feel is that we don’t know how the other teams are in the league,” Morris said. “We’ve played [Loyola University-Maryland] before, but we don’t know about the rest of the conference, so it’ll be about making sure we’re up to speed with where the other teams in the league are.”
Morris cites the fact that the team is returning all of its starters and a good portion of its supporting cast, making it easier to gel as a team.
“The chemistry has been great,” Morris said. “Everyone is buying into whatever Coach is trying to do with the team and everyone is working as a team, trying to reach a goal and everyone is working hard.
“This is a really special team that I’m a part of right now. I feel blessed to be with a group of guys who legitimately care about each other and are willing to make sacrifices to better the team.”
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