St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) guard Casey Morsell entered the final regular season session of the 2018 Nike EYBL making 37% of his 3-pointers. The 6’3”, 180-pound rising senior, a Virginia commit, is now shooting 44.6% from beyond the arc after making 12-of-19 3s this past weekend in Hampton.
Morsell averaged 13.5 points in four games in Hampton. His 22 points against the Las Vegas Prospects Saturday morning was a personal best this EYBL season, and he added 18 more against the N.Y. Lightning Saturday night. Most importantly, Morsell helped Team Takeover complete the EYBL regular season with a perfect 16-0 record.
Peach Jam, which is the EYBL’s championship event, doesn’t take place until July, but Team Takeover certainly made a big statement. Takeover’s average margin of victory during the first three EYBL sessions (12 games) was 12.7. The talented team won by an average of 23.5 points per game in Hampton, with 22 being its smallest margin of victory.
“We want to have as much momentum as possible going into Peach Jam,” Morsell said. “One thing we started doing better this weekend is we started playing more for each other, doing the little things like making the extra pass, taking charges, diving for loose balls. The little things. That definitely propelled us to win by such a large margin.”
Morsell is averaging 12 points per game, tops on the EYBL’s best team. He leads Takeover in 3-pointers made, but what he is most pleased with in terms of his AAU season performance has been the development of other parts of his offensive game.
“I think I’m starting to be more complete,” Morsell said. “Having a counter for everything that the defense is throwing at me. If they play off, I shoot. If they pressure, I make a move, go by. Just having a counter for everything.”
On defense, Morsell plays with intensity and solid fundamentals. He provided a spark on both ends of the court in Hampton, often guarding full-court and showing he could match up with quick point guards as well as wings.
“Team Takeover definitely emphasizes defense,” Morsell said. “We spend a lot of time doing defensive drills to help us. One of the main things we’re focusing on is defense, because on offense there is so much talent that we feel it’s going to come to us. Defensively, we’re just trying to get everyone on the same page.”
With Peach Jam more than a month away, what’s next for the 4-star rising senior in the coming weeks?
“Top 100, probably,” Morsell said. “Then I’m going to try to go down to Charlottesville sometime in June. I got to set a good day to go down and play with those guys. That’s pretty much it. Just work on my body. Our postseason, July is a brutal month for us. Peach Jam, it’s a lot of games. It’s a lot more games than in April, so pretty much I just want to work on my body and play against the best competition in camp.”
Morsell’s goal in getting back to Charlottesville for a visit outside of the NBPA Top 100 Camp is simple: While he already has a great relationship with the coaches, he wants to get to know the players better.
“I actually talked to Coach Bennett [on Saturday],” Morsell said. “I talked to Coach Williford the other day. We had an awesome talk about everything. I have a really good relationship with the coaching staff. I really don’t have a great relationship with a lot of the players because I just haven’t been there or around them. Just to meet everybody, besides the coaching staff, because you spend a lot of time with everyone else. The coaching staff is not the only people you spend most of your time with. Just sort of meet more people, learn more stuff about the school, that’s pretty much it.”
