Kansas Basketball: Impact of Arterio Morris suspension for Jayhawks
Arterio Morris was supposed to be the star transfer pickup for Kansas Basketball this season. Now, there’s a chance he won’t play a game for the Jayhawks.
In just 14 months since leaving high school, Arterio Morris has already been involved in plenty of headlines off the court. A year ago, the former five-star prospect had been dealing with domestic violence charges before enrolling at Texas. He ultimately played his freshman year there before entering the transfer portal and ultimately picking Kansas Basketball.
The talent level and overall potential for Morris has never been in question. And that’s what the Jayhawks were hoping for when they got him, likely starting him in the backcourt next to point guard Dajaun Harris Jr. He was very impressive in the team’s preseason foreign tour as well. However, breaking news can throw all of that away.
https://x.com/ThroughThePhog/status/1702857118800359454?s=20
As of now, it’s merely an allegation of rape for Morris, with no charges officially being filed. However, it’s not a shock to see Kansas swiftly suspending him. Just a day prior, the guard settled his previous domestic violence issues from a year ago. So while these allegations are public and an investigation is underway, they had to sideline him.
The problem for Morris is that there’s no telling how long the investigation will last and until he’s fully cleared of any wrongdoing, he’s going to remain suspended. So there’s a legit chance that he’ll miss the 2023-24 season for the Jayhawks and if there are charges that gets filed, he likely will be done at Kansas and in college overall.
From a basketball standpoint, not having Morris will hurt the ceiling for Kansas, which was at a top-3 level in the sport. Still, the team did land Towson transfer and 40+% three-point shooter Nicolas Timberlake and he can easily start at shooting guard. Top-100 freshman gaurd Jamari McDowell will back him up, as well as five-star combo guard prospect, Elmarko Jackson.
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Ultimately, Kansas will go as far as Harris and Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson takes them. It’s a very talented team that can compete for a national title but if they were to be without Morris, the margin of error would go down a bit.