Tough love
Quentin Hillsman stepped up to the podium, smiled and started introducing his Syracuse women’s basketball team at the team’s annual media day in early October.
First, Juanita Ward, the junior college transfer and former McDonald’s All-American.
‘The best player that I’ve ever coached,’ Hillsman said. ‘And the most talented player that I have.’
Highly hyped local freshman Tyler Ash?
‘Better than advertised,’ Hillsman said.
Sophomore point guard Tasha Harris?
‘The one to lead us,’ Hillsman said. ‘…As she goes, we’ll go.’
On down the roster the head coach went, lavishing kind words on the members of the 2008-09 squad. But one name was left out: Erica Morrow, the sophomore who came to Syracuse as its highest-rated recruit ever and was a catalyst for last season’s improbable, 13-game turnaround.
Finally, seven minutes in, Hillsman was asked about the sophomore shooting guard. What role will she play?
‘Erica has to take more shots,’ Hillsman said, plainly and without hesitation. ‘She really does. She has to really look to be aggressive and to score the basketball.’
It wasn’t exactly the glowing praise Hillsman showered on his other players. But that doesn’t surprise Morrow anymore. As she tore her way through her rookie campaign, averaging 13.9 points per game, Hillsman played mind games like this with his emerging star, pushing her to her limits. Being shunned by her coach is nothing new. But if Hillsman is intense, it’s because he knows Morrow will be the centerpiece of the program for the next three years, leading the Orange into a new era.
‘He ignores me sometimes, a little bit,’ Morrow said. ‘Keeps me on my toes.’
Morrow learned quickly after arriving on the Hill that the nice man who relentlessly recruited her out of Brooklyn had big plans for her. He rode her hard, knowing her breaking point was high. In practice, multiple players might be doing something wrong, but Morrow would be the one receiving the tongue-lashing for it.
At first it was confusing. But as the season drew on and the Orange became a surprise success, with Morrow helping to lead the way, she started to understand her coach’s motives.
‘He’s tough on her, because he expects more out of her,’ said junior forward Nicole Michael. ‘Especially her being a freshman, getting her into the program, getting her comfortable. He had to be tough on her.’
Morrow, the 19th-ranked guard in 2007 by Hoopgurlz.com, surprised many by committing to a downtrodden program that had been to the NCAA Tournament one time in the last 19 years. In doing so, she became the first McDonald’s All-American to attend Syracuse, in Hillsman’s second season. She came in determined to orchestrate a turnaround. And she did.
In a starting role from the first day, Morrow racked up more minutes than anyone on the team – clearly emerging as the fresh face on a new-look program. And she seemed to improve as time went on, thriving in high-pressure atmospheres. In the final five games of the season – which included a trip to No. 4 Rutgers, a game against No. 14 West Virginia, and games in the Big East and NCAA tournaments – Morrow averaged 20 points per game.
Off the court, Morrow managed to find the spotlight, too. Like when she dyed a streak of pink down the top of her hair midway through the last season. Or started a blog about Syracuse women’s basketball.
Along the way, the shooting guard moved into a position of leadership on the burgeoning Syracuse squad that went 22-9 and made the NCAA Tournament. It’s a spot the outgoing Morrow has always seemed to gravitate toward, from AAU basketball, to her powerhouse high school team, Murry Bergtraum in New York, to her freshman season at Syracuse, where she inverted the freshman-to-senior hierarchy to become a floor general.
‘The only reason I stepped up as a leader is I felt like it was something I needed to do,’ Morrow said. ‘Because, not saying it wasn’t necessarily done by other people, but … there wasn’t people stepping up into that role.’
Now, heading into a sophomore campaign, Hillsman is reconfiguring Morrow’s role on the team: Less talking. More shooting. He’s made it clear he expects Morrow to take a step back and allow the more introverted Harris to run the team from the point guard.
Morrow and Harris have been sharing backcourts since they started playing on the same AAU team at 13. Morrow has always been the talker. Harris has always been the quiet type. So flip-flopping roles is something both are taking time to get used to in the preseason.
‘It’s a little different, because I’m used to talking in all the huddles and everything,’ Morrow said. ‘And now it’s like ‘Shut up Erica. Time for Tasha to talk.’ I think it’s a little weird for her, too.’
One role that won’t be diminished is Morrow’s as a clutch scorer. Throughout last season, Hillsman made it clear that, with the game on the line, Morrow would be his go-to player. Even after she missed her first potential game-winner against then-No. 1 Connecticut, Hillsman vowed Morrow would keep taking the last shot. It paid off against Georgetown later in the season, when she drained an improbable 3-pointer to seal a victory.
‘One thing about Erica is that she can make a play, or she can make a play for somebody else,’ Hillsman said. ‘So you always want to get the ball in a player’s hand that can do a lot of different things on the floor. We’re going to continue to put the ball in her hand and allow her to make plays.’
That fact is the most important for Morrow. Maybe her coach won’t stand up and gush about her, calling her the best player he’s ever seen or the undisputed team leader. But Morrow’s grown to trust in Hillsman and his plan for her.
‘At the end of the day, I think that you don’t realize it at first,’ Morrow said. ‘But I think once you get to that NCAA Tournament game or you get a little further down the line in your career, you realize that all those little details and all those little ways he pushed you and little things he corrected made a difference.’
Published on November 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm
