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NC State basketball guard Casey Morsell beginning to reemerge

MattCarterby:Matt Carter•01/24/22•

TheWolfpacker

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NC State basketball guard Casey Morsell (Photo by Nicholas Faulkner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

When NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts evaluates a transfer, such as junior guard Casey Morsell last spring, he believes that the most important thing is finding a quality fit.

As Keatts noted, “Every transfer is not for everyone.”

“I think personalities have to blend,” Keatts said. “Socially, you got to make sure that a young man can come into your program and not disrupt.”

When Keatts evaluated Morsell after he entered the transfer portal following his second season with Virginia, Keatts saw that quality fit.

“We felt like that we were getting a guy who was already transferring from a really winning program. I think that’s also important,” Keatts stated. “He knew how to play. … We thought we were getting a great kid that was low maintenance, good locker room guy, great student.

“More importantly we had to go back a little bit to his high school days to kind of figure out does he fit what we are trying to accomplish here in our program. He’s been a perfect transfer for us because of those things.”

After the first seven games of the regular season, Morsell was proving Keatts correct. He was averaging 12.3 points per game, but during the four-overtime home win over Nebraska, Morsell sprained his ankle.

Morsell would miss the next two games before rushing back, perhaps too soon. Starting with a game against then-No. 1 Purdue, Morsell endured a nine-game stretch where he scored just 37 total points, and in a win at Virginia Tech he played just six minutes off the bench.

However, the ankle slowly has healed, and NC State is starting to see the Morsell of earlier in the season. He had 11 points in the loss to Virginia Tech Jan. 19 and then added 12 in the win over Virginia on Saturday.

“Casey Morsell was playing really good basketball up until he had an ankle injury,” Keatts noted. “Since then, people don’t understand how much that takes out of you. You don’t have lift. You can’t shoot the ball well; you don’t drive as well.

“He’s back healthy. He started getting back healthy probably right before the Virginia Tech game. … He got a little frustrated because he couldn’t perform the way he was performing early in the year. I think him getting back healthy has certainty helped our team because he is probably our best on the ball defender. He’s got great size, knows how to play, coming from UVA and the way they play defense, he’s certainly a really good defensive player.

“He’s done a good job. I’m just glad to see him back to playing good basketball.”

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