He may not be the biggest man out on the court but College of Idaho’s starting guard, Emanuel Morgan, makes up for it with his heart, quickness and by keeping defenders on their toes.
“Being as small as I am, I think I was overlooked—just because of my size,” The Senior Guard said. “Luckily I was fortunate to have a coach, somebody to give me an opportunity to play at the next level.”
When head coach, Scott Garson, took over as the man in charge at C of I four years ago he knew he needed a special player. One sleepless night the head coach grabbed a high school recruiting reel and popped it into the disc player. As his eyes followed the movements of a young Emanuel Morgan on the screen, he knew right away that he had found his guy.
“I remember being exhausted,” Head Coach Scott Garson said. “It was two or three in the morning and I’m watching Manny. It was a game where he hit seven threes. I knew the style of play we wanted. I said ‘Jeez this guy fits exactly what we want.’”
Morgan has delivered. His stats speak for themselves—he leads the conference in steals and is just one of two players in conference history to have more than 500 assists and 200 steals in a career. Morgan says that it is his drive to win that makes him special.
“I feel like I want to win more than anyone else. More than anyone else—more than anyone on our team or anyone on the other team. It’s just how I was raised. I just grew up super competitive with siblings and friends,” Morgan said.
Morgan’s talents have extended beyond just the basketball court. He says a huge relaxer for him is playing the piano, something he taught himself to do.
“Takes me away from everything going on in my outside life and takes me away from basketball. Something I can focus on and clear my mind,” said Morgan.
The Yotes have two remaining home games on the schedule, and Thursday will be Morgan’s 129th career game. It’s slowly putting his time and effort into perspective in coach Garson’s eyes.
“I don’t want to think about it,” Garson said. “I have never coached a game here that Manny did not play in. It will be difficult.”
Morgan says that—looking forward— when he is done with basketball he would like to become a coach. Given the chance, he would love to be a grad assistant at C of I.
