Jesse Morgan had a rough season at UMass last season, to say the least.
Morgan, along with teammates Cady Lalanne and Trey Davis, was suspended from a preseason exhibition game for undisclosed disciplinary reasons. Then he went down with a season-ending ACL injury on January 10, in the midst of his strongest season to date. At the time of his injury, Morgan was averaging 13.4 points per game for an A-10 contender.
Then, after missing half of the season, Morgan was officially dismissed from the team in April. He has one season of eligibility left, and has enrolled at Temple, according to OwlScoop.com. We’re all stopping just short of calling this a basketball transfer for a couple of very good reasons, elucidated here by the Hampshire Gazette:Morgan has one year of eligibility remaining, but whether the Philadelphia native is able to use it remains to be seen. He’d need the NCAA to grant him waivers on two issues:
1. NCAA rules require a transfer to sit out a year before becoming eligible. Morgan’s eligibility would be up if he sat out a year.
2. Morgan withdrew from school and was not enrolled in classes for the second semester at UMass. NCAA requires athletes to maintain progress toward their degree each semester. Morgan didn’t do that during the spring.
Point number two makes it seem like a long shot. If Morgan spent his year injured, in disciplinary hot water, and not going to class, that may be a trifecta of the worst kind. Still, you can’t blame Temple for taking a no-risk flyer on keeping the local guy in play.
Eric Angevine is the editor of Storming the Floor. He tweets @stfhoops.
