NCAA Basketball: 5 impactful under-the-radar recruits for 2019-20

Casey Morsell, SG, Virginia

The reigning national champions have plenty of minutes up for grabs in the backcourt with both Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy headed to the NBA Draft. That means that Morsell – who was going to play a big role for the Cavaliers no matter what – is going to play a monstrous role for Tony Bennett’s squad.

Even if Mamadi Diakite takes the big step forward we expect him to and Kihei Clark improves, there’s still plenty of questions about where their offense will come from. Braxton Key and Jay Huff will also see bigger roles, but both are frontcourt players.

Someone else in the backcourt is going to have to step up and Morsell has all the talent and tools to do so.

He’s small for a two-guard at 6-2 (I think we’ll see him play some point guard behind Clark) but might be Virginia’s best scorer already. Morsell is athletic enough to have success attacking and finishing around the basket. He’s also a knockdown shooter who can either spot up or create his own shot.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Virginia if we didn’t talk about his defense, right? Well, he’s excellent at that, too. Morsell has good lateral movement with quick hands and a nasty competitiveness about him.

The backcourt combination of Clark and Morsell would be undersized, especially in the ACC, but it might be one of the best defensively in the country. Expect Morsell to quickly earn a reputation as being one of the best two-way guards next season.