Former Maryland men’s basketball guard Darryl Morsell maintains a close relationship with the current and former Terps, and that bond was evident in his decision to compete in a basketball tournament with money on the line.
Morsell grew up in Baltimore and attended Mount Saint Joseph High School. He then attended Maryland, where he had a successful four-year run with the Terps before graduating. In 2021, he was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and finished his run with Terps as one of 16 players in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 starts.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard was also honored for the impact he left as a person. He was a Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree and Senior CLASS Award Candidate in 2021 and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and 2020.
Despite the legacy he left in his home state, Morsell decided to transfer to Marquette as a graduate student in the summer of 2021. But he still maintains a relationship with the school and community that shaped him.
“I love Maryland. I went to a couple games this past year, I have a good relationship with [Kevin] Willard, I know him,” Morsell said on Glenn Clark Radio July 17. “Since I’ve been home this summer, I’ve been up to College Park to see some of the guys and to play a little bit. They’ve still got that Baltimore connection up there with Julian Reese and Jahn Lamothe.”
Morsell never played under Willard, but the two became familiar by playing against each other several times when Willard coached at Seton Hall. Morsell and the Terps played the Pirates in 2018 and 2019, losing to Willard’s squad both times.
Morsell also played Seton Hall twice during the 2021-22 season with Marquette, as both teams compete in the Big East Conference. Marquette won both games, and in the Jan. 15 matchup, Morsell tied his career-high with 26 points in a one-point victory.
Morsell says Willard is big on having alumni come together to give back to the current players. He didn’t hesitate to join his Maryland family for a night out.
“Within a week or two of having the job he had a lot of the alumni, so I would say Bruno [Fernando], Anthony Cowan, Byron Mouton. It was probably like 20, 30 of us. We all had dinner with the guys that were on the current team,” Morsell said.
Morsell is spending more time with Maryland basketball alumni by competing in The Basketball Tournament for Shell Shock, the Maryland alumni team.
The event features 64 teams split into eight regions for a single-elimination tournament resulting in a winner-take-all prize of $1 million. Shell Shock won its first-round game against Gataverse, a team of Florida alumni, with Morsell scoring the game-winning basket in an “Elam Ending” format. Shell Shock will play again on July 27.
Morsell is a self-proclaimed basketball junkie and when he was asked to join Shell Shock, he couldn’t turn down the offer.
“Being from Baltimore, watching Maryland growing up, getting this opportunity to represent my hometown university, playing with guys that I used to watch growing up that went to Maryland is definitely special to me,” Morsell said. “It’s not the only TBT team that reached out to me to see if I was willing to play, so I definitely wanted to be a part of the Shell Shock team and hopefully we can just keep building on this for years to come.”
Most recently, Morsell played in the NBA Summer League for the Toronto Raptors. He is hoping to navigate a path to an NBA roster spot. Morsell feels that growing up in Baltimore helped prepare him for that grind.
“Being from Baltimore, you feel like you’ve been an underdog and overlooked your whole life,” Morsell said. “So, it’s just like I said part of the process, you just keep grinding, keep putting the work in, doing the right thing and just believing and trusting your work cause that’ll eventually show on the court.”
For more from Morsell, listen to the full interview here:
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