Photo Courtesy of Sports Information
By Carly Mersky, Staff Writer
Growing up in North Babylon, N.Y., senior Joel Morris has seemed to always have a passion for sports, playing football, soccer, baseball and basketball since he was a kid.
”My dad thought sports was the best way to make friends and stay active, so he put my brothers and I in a bunch of sports,” Morris said. “I fell in love with playing basketball, and after my freshman year of high school, basketball was the only sport I continued to play.”
Currently, Morris plays for Susquehanna’s men’s basketball team as a guard at the two, three or four spots. Morris was drawn to Susquehanna’s team because of the championship culture Coach Marcinek Frank was trying to build, and because the team was like a family.
Fortunately Morris was able to experience the familial-like nature of the team.
“Most of my favorite memories have also come from off the court, the team dinners, the jokes on bus rides and in the locker room, and all the hard work that we put in together to be successful,” Morris shared. “Whether it was waking up at 6 a.m. to run together until we all almost pass out or it was pushing each other every day in practice, in lift and off the court to be the best we all can be in order to be successful, these are definitely my favorite memories here at Susquehanna.”
If Morris had to pick one game to relive it would be the championship game against Scranton because he believes that winning the game was a result of all the hard work the team had been doing.
“My sophomore season we got blown out in the first round of the playoffs vs Moravian and ever since that game we made the decision as a team to work as hard as we possibly could to be the first men’s basketball team at Susquehanna to win the Landmark Conference Championship,” Morris said. “We even named our team group chat ‘2020 Landmark champs.’ That game, that win, with the whole school in the stands supporting us was the result of all that hard work we put in together. And because of that we made history here at SU.”
Being a student athlete for the past four years has taught Morris many things. Some of those things are how to work hard, how to manage his time and how to deal with and push through adversity. “Whether it is dealing with losing, injury, playing through pain or things just not going the way you hope or expect, you can never give up and you have to push through and continue to work hard in order to be successful.”
If Morris had to give advice to the first-year basketball players, he would tell them to push themselves and work hard if they want to be successful. “Enjoy every day: the good days and the bad, because these four years are all you get and the time flies by. Before you know it, you will be a senior and you will be going to your last practice and playing your last game,” Morris said.
His favorite quote is :“If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.”
