The San José State men’s basketball program is adding years worth of successful California recruiting ties and coaching familiarity within the Mountain West with the addition of Jay Morris as an assistant coach. Head coach Jean Prioleau made the announcement.
“Jay is a California native that played high school basketball with the Westchester Comets in Los Angeles,” said Prioleau. “He has now coached at several West Coast programs, including one in the Mountain West. Jay has made great connections and has developed recruiting ties in both Southern California and the Bay Area that have lasted for decades.”
Morris comes to San José State after spending the 2016-17 season as the director of player development for the Long Beach State men’s basketball team. During that time Morris successfully implemented a personal development plan focused on student-athlete success after basketball.
Morris spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach at Nevada under former NBA head coach Eric Musselman. In one season with Morris on staff, Nevada made a 15-game improvement on the court and secured a highly touted recruiting class for the following year.
Using his strong ties in Southern California, Morris was the lead recruiter of Wolf Pack signees Lindsey Drew (Scout.com 4-Star), Devearl Ramsey (Rivals.com 4-Star), and Kenny Wooten (Rivals.com 4-Star). Rivals rated Nevada’s class 35th in the country while 247sports ranked it 51st in all of Division I.
Meanwhile, on the floor Nevada finished with the 13th-most improved record in the nation and went on to be champions of the 2016 CBI.
Morris began his coaching career at CSUN where he spent five seasons (2010 through 2015) as an assistant coach under former NBA player and head coach Reggie Theus.
Under Morris’ recruiting efforts the Matadors signed a bevy of Southern California’s top high school players, including four LA All-City First Team honorees. CSUN signed Stephan Hicks who became the 2011-12 Big West Freshman of the Year and a Mid-Major All-American. With Morris CSUN also signed St. John’s transfer Amir Garret, top-20 Division I transfer Glen Rice, Jr., and the 2010-11 Sunbelt Freshman of the Year J.J. Thomas.
In one of many active roles with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Morris has been an assistant coach at the Reese’s College All-Star Game in 2010 and 2011. The annual game played at the NCAA Final Four site showcases 20 of the best Division I seniors.
Morris is a 2010 graduate of CSU Dominguez Hills with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He went on to earn a master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University in May of 2017.
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