Temetrius "Ja" Morant (born August 10, 1999) is an American college basketball player for the Murray State Racers of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).Morant was born in Dalzell, South Carolina to Tee and Jamie Morant.[1][2] His father was a high school teammate of Ray Allen, a future Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and played basketball for Claflin University before starting a professional career abroad.[3][4] However, his career was halted early on by the birth of Ja, who grew up playing basketball under his father's guidance.[5] Morant played on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit with Team SC, previously named the SC Hornets, where he was teammates with Zion Williamson, one of the top players in his class.[4][6]
Morant attended Crestwood High School in Sumter, South Carolina.[1] He stood 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) as a freshman and joined the varsity basketball team as a sophomore.[4][5] Morant left as its all-time leading scorer, with 1,679 points, and set a career-high with 47 points against Sumter High School.[1][7] In his final two seasons for Crestwood, he averaged 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game, earning South Carolina Class 3A All-State honors in both years. Morant also left high school as a three-time All-Region Most Valuable Player (MVP).[1]
Morant was not ranked by recruiting services ESPN, 247Sports, or Rivals.[8][9][10] His only high major NCAA Division I offer came from South Carolina.[11] On September 3, 2016, Morant committed to mid-major program Murray State of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).[5][12] His other Division I offers included Duquesne, Maryland Eastern Shore, South Carolina State, and Wofford.As a freshman for Murray State, Morant averaged 12.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game, starting in all 32 of his games.[13] On November 13, 2017 against Middle Tennessee, he debuted with a team-high 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.[14] Morant posted his first triple-double on December 28, with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists in an 80–52 win over Eastern Illinois. It was the second triple-double in school history, first coming from Isacc Miles in 1984.[15] On February 1, 2018, he scored a season-high 23 points against Southeast Missouri State.[16] At the end of the season, Morant earned first-team All-OVC and OVC All-Newcomer Team accolades.[17]
As a sophomore, Morant assumed a leading role for Murray State with the departures of key players Jonathan Stark and Terrell Miller.[18] In his season debut, he recorded 26 points and 11 assists in a 74–53 win against Wright State.[19] On November 24, 2018, Morant posted 29 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 77–66 win over Missouri State, becoming the first Murray State player to ever record multiple triple-doubles.[20] In his next game, he scored a season-high 38 points in a 78–72 loss to Alabama, the 12th most single-game points by a player in school history.Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League Ohio Valley ConferenceBorn August 10, 1999 (age 19)
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight 175 lb (79 kg)High school Crestwood (Sumter, South Carolina)
College Murray State (2017–present)First-team All-OVC (2018)
OVC All-Newcomer Team (2018)
