Adam Morrison

Adam John Morrison (born July 19, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player.

Morrison arrived at Gonzaga University to play for the Gonzaga Bulldogs in 2003.

In his freshman year he averaged 11.4 points per game (ppg), with a season-high 22 points against St. Mary's.

Gonzaga won the West Coast Conference (WCC) regular-season title.

Morrison was named to the WCC All-Freshman Team.

In his sophomore year Morrison averaged 19.0 ppg.

He scored a season-high 28 points at home against San Francisco, including the winning shot with 0.6 seconds to play in the game.

Gonzaga again won the WCC regular-season title.

Morrison made the All-WCC First Team and was selected to the Basketball Times All-West Coast Team as well as being named an honorable mention Associated Press All-American.

Morrison played for three years at Gonzaga University and was considered to be one of the top college basketball players in 2005–06.

He was a finalist for the Naismith and the Wooden Award.

In his junior year during Gonzaga's first two games of the 2005–06 season at the Maui Invitational, Morrison played well against two of the sport's top programs.

In the first round, Morrison scored 25 points in a Gonzaga win over Maryland.

He followed up this performance with 43 points in a triple-overtime win over Michigan State in the semifinals.

He matched that output against in-state rival Washington on December 4, 2005, in a losing effort.

However, Morrison and the Zags bounced back a week later, defeating Oklahoma State after he banked in a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to give Gonzaga a two-point lead and eventually the win.

In the regular season, he had 13 games of 30-plus points, with five of them over 40.

At 28.1 points per game, he was the nation's leading scorer in 2005–2006.

His scoring totals against teams in the "major" conferences were no less impressive; he averaged 28.5 points in 11 such games.

On February 18, Morrison recorded a career high 44 points (including 37 in the second half alone) against the Loyola Marymount Lions in a winning effort.

He was named Co-Player of the Year with Duke's JJ Redick by the United States Basketball Writers Association and won the 2006 Chevrolet Player of the Year award.

He played for the Charlotte Bobcats from 2006 to 2009, and for the L.A. Lakers from 2009 to 2010, where he won two NBA Championships.

Morrison's father, John, worked as a basketball coach, and the family moved with his coaching career: Casper College in Casper, Wyoming, Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, and Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana.

When Morrison was in the fourth grade, his father left coaching, and the family moved to Spokane, Washington.

Adam became the Gonzaga men's team's ball boy.

When he was in the eighth grade, he lost 30 pounds (14 kg), and while attending a basketball camp at Gonzaga during this time, he felt sick, later saying about his experience at the camp, "I think I made one shot the whole three days. I was sicker than a dog. I didn't want to play. I couldn't do anything."

Shortly after this, Morrison was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

He took his diagnosis surprisingly well; the second time a nurse came to administer insulin, he stopped her, telling her, "Since I'm going to be doing this the rest of my life, you might as well show me how to do it."

However, his illness did not keep him from becoming a star at Mead Senior High School in Spokane.

In his senior year he broke single-season and career scoring records in his high school conference, and led Mead to the finals of the state tournament.

Despite playing in the final game with hypoglycemia so severe that he nearly had a seizure, he scored 37 points in a losing effort.

It was Mead's only loss that season.

Morrison was not heavily recruited out of high school.

Dave Telep of scout.com admitted, "In one of the biggest misses of my career, we left him off the Top 100 list. We ranked him the No. 26 small forward. The goal is to never make a mistake of that magnitude again".

Morrison led the Zags with 24 points in a 2006 NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen match against UCLA, which the Zags lost in the final seconds after UCLA had eliminated a 17-point deficit coming out of the first half.

With seconds left, the lead having slipped away after Morrison's teammates committed 3 turnovers in less than 5 seconds, Morrison broke down in tears and collapsed to the court.

He was eventually helped to his feet by UCLA player Arron Afflalo.

He has been both criticized and praised for this unbridled show of emotion.

He later shared the national player of the year award with friendly rival JJ Redick of Duke.

The game against UCLA turned out to be Morrison's final collegiate game, as he later decided to turn pro, foregoing his senior year of college.