Even as she dominated throughout her first year at DePaul, the spotlight took some time to gravitate to Aneesah Morrow.
It wasn’t until December when the freshman phenom’s numbers garnered attention. The 6-foot-1 forward kept producing — pulling down rebounds over traditional centers and overpowering them in the post on the other end.
Not considered a top-100 recruit coming out of Simeon, she ended the season in the top-11 in the country in rebounds, points and steals per game.
Now Morrow, who broke 11 Big East records, finds herself as the National Freshman of the Year as voted on by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and U.S. Basketball Writers Association on Tuesday.
“It was amazing how things ramped up overnight,” she said. “Just being able to see the recognition I was getting from basketball legends and all that type of stuff. It’s been very inspiring and I’m just going to continue to work towards my goals over the next couple years.”
Morrow, who considers herself an introvert, has had help navigating her newfound national attention.
DePaul coach Doug Bruno always has preached a team-first philosophy and iterated to Morrow the importance of keeping her head down.
“We talk pretty straightforward about (the nation attention),” Bruno said. “We’re proud of it and congratulate you, but you still have to keep your feet on the ground. She comes from a great family background so it hasn’t been difficult. She doesn’t walk around with a big head.”
DePaul has an informal tradition that if a player receives an award, she has to buy something for the entire team. Over the course of the season, Morrow racked up 13 Big East freshman of the week nods, five USBWA National Freshman of Week honors and was on the ballot for the John R. Wooden and Naismith player of the year awards.
Between games and practice, it got to the point Morrow only had so much time in the day to buy her teammates gifts such as fuzzy socks (a team favorite) and cookies from the Whole Foods at the corner of Fullerton and Sheffield avenues.
“I feel like I’ve been falling behind with it,” Morrow said, laughing. “I was on top of it every week and it’s great because you are giving back to your teammates for helping you get these accomplishments. But I didn’t realize this was going to go so fast.”
Morrow has bought into the foundation Bruno and his staff have created over the last four decades — but expect to see more from her next season.
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At Simeon, she would lead the break after pulling down a defensive rebound and didn’t regularly play with her back to the basket. This season, DePaul helped hone her ability to score in the post — she converted 63.3% of her shots around the rim, according to Synergy Sports.
Bruno and Morrow have a running, humorous back and forth about balancing her shooting 3-pointers and getting touches down low.
“My coaching philosophy is that when you get a freshman, you play to their strengths,” Bruno said. “Aneesah is a great 3-point shooter. But her percentages right now are 60 at the rim and 20 from 3.
“There are times when she knocks down a 3 where she smiles and winks with a look that pretty much says, ‘I got you next time.’ “
Morrow said she understands where the coaching staff is coming from having her focus on her post play. There were times the freshman got wide-eyed thinking about how she could help the team in other ways besides scoring with her back to the basket.
“Sometimes I will look back at my stats and see that these were all two-point baskets,” Morrow said. “I just imagine how much more I could help my team if I could go out and shoot a 3 sometimes because … it’s three points. Me and Coach Bruno talked about it and he understands me too.”
Even as the coaching staff eased her into playing at the college level, Morrow did things freshmen typically don’t pull off. She recorded 26 double-doubles in 32 games and scored 24 or more points in 11 of those contests. Morrow already has generated buzz about what she is going to look like in the WNBA even with three more years of college ahead.
Morrow has heard the outside noise from those who think she should transfer to another program. But her relationship with Bruno and being close to home has her comfortable.
“I plan on staying here at DePaul, I don’t see myself leaving here,” Morrow said. “I have so many opportunities here and I can see them growing and blossoming. I’ve been hearing (people talk about me transferring) but I am happy here.”
James Kay is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.