Feb. 11, 2009
Going 7-23 during your freshmen campaign is not the way any collegiate athlete would like to start their career. Finishing a career with a possible NCAA Tournament berth and a degree from a prestigious university like Penn State is something every collegiate athlete would dream of. For one Penn State athlete, this exact scenario has been experienced.
Fifth year senior and sharpshooting basketball guard Danny Morrissey has experienced it all during his time at Penn State. The Cleveland, Ohio native began his career in 2004-05 on a team that finished 7-23 for the season with just one Big Ten win. Two Academic All-Big Ten selections and one Big Ten Player of the Week award later, Morrissey is taking part in something that nobody would have predicted for the future during his freshman season: An NCAA Tournament berth.
With the season half-over, the Nittany Lions stand in a position this year in which an appearance in the NCAA Tournament is very reachable. Morrissey is thrilled to be in the thick of things, especially since he witnessed the worst early in his career. The best part that Penn State's fourth all-time leading three point shooter has experienced is watching the team grow year by year.
"This experience has taught me personally about being persistent and staying positive about what our team can potentially do," says Morrissey. "We are starting to do some good things. The past has been a struggle. I knew it could get better and I believed it could, and it has gotten better."
During his freshman year, Morrissey saw action in all 30 games, starting in 10 of them. He led the team in scoring for five different games, averaging 7.7 points per game and also was the Lions' top three-point shooter that season, knocking down 53 treys. During the first week of practice his sophomore season, Morrissey had a step back as he tore the patella tendon in his left knee, and was given a medical redshirt for the season.
Morrissey battled back though and made a nice comeback return the following season, knocking down 49 percent of his three point shots in conference games, leading the Big Ten. Additionally that season, Morrissey was named Big Ten Player of the Week (1/8/07) after shooting 80 percent (16-20) from the field in games against Purdue and Northwestern. Penn State was only 11-19 though that season, with just two wins in the conference.
Heading into the 2007-08 season, Morrissey and the Nittany Lions had high expectations with a talented squad which included Geary Claxton and a highly rated freshmen class coming in. Even though the Lions went just 15-16, Morrissey knew that the team was beginning to make the turn. The loss of Geary Claxton for the season due to injury was tough for Penn State, but Morrissey said the team tried to make a positive out of it.
"Unfortunately with Geary Claxton's injury, just following that, we got a good preview of what this year was going to be like," he says. "At the end of last season, some of the younger guys got a lot of playing time and I think that got us in a really good mood for going into this season. We looked good last year and we saw some really good things."
This season has brought new hope for Morrissey and his teammates. Standing in the middle of the Big Ten with a winning conference record, and already recording the most wins in a season in the five years Morrissey has been at Penn State, the Nittany Lions will be making a strong push to earn an appearance into the "Big Dance."
Morrissey has played a slightly different role this season, coming off the bench and being the sixth man in most of the games. The fifth-year senior has been very effective, and most recently knocked down his 200th career three-pointer in a win against Michigan, which moved him into fourth place on the all-time three-pointers list at Penn State. Following the big victory against Michigan, the Lions earned a dramatic come-from-behind win against Iowa. Morrissey saw that this team really was a winner.
"We learned in general that you are never out of a game until the game is over," he says. "We were down by 14 with about five minutes to go, and anything could happen at that point. We learned that we have a lot of guys with winning attitudes. We may not play that well, but coach says it's only about the will to win."
Beyond an up-and-down basketball career, Morrissey has worked even harder towards obtaining a finance degree at Penn State, which requires students to maintain a GPA above 3.3. Recently named an Academic All-District performer, Morrissey has easily exceeded that, holding a GPA of around 3.5 and already completing his finance degree last year. No matter how difficult the major was, Morrissey exceeded and managed his time with basketball and academics.
"It's tough and not easy," says Morrissey. "Coach DeChellis has always made a big emphasis on academics and he knows that guys like me will not play basketball for the rest of my career. I might be able to play a few years after college, but it's not going to be something I make a good living off of. You need to have something to do when you're done playing basketball. He has always made that emphasis and it really helps."
Morrissey earned more recognition this year, as he was named a candidate for the Lowe's Senior Class Award. The award recognizes senior Division I athletes focusing on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition. Morrissey is honored to be a candidate for this award, but these are characteristics he expects from himself every day.
"It's special and a great honor, but it's an award given to me for doing stuff that I should have done in the first place," he says. "Those are things I expect to do, as far as doing community service, going to class, doing well in school and trying to be as good as I can on the court. That is stuff that I find to be normal, I don't find it to be extraordinary. It's nice and it's a great honor, but I expect that of myself."
Overall, Morrissey has nothing to complain about his career at Penn State. Between a 7-23 season, a GPA of 3.5, supportive parents and a team with a winning attitude, the senior believes his basketball career at Penn State has prepared him for the future.
"Basically, you are going to have your ups and downs in life," he says. "We can't sit and whine about what the bad things are that have happened to you. You just have to keep working hard and trying to get better with whatever you are doing whether it's your career, work, or family. Every day is not going to be perfect. There is always tomorrow and you can always improve things tomorrow and things can get better. That is what I have learned from going 7-23 to what we have been able to do this year."