Why Kim Mulkey gets emotional talking about LSU women's basketball senior PG Alexis Morris
BATON ROUGE – Alexis Morris, once again, showed out in the fourth quarter of a tight ballgame when her team needed her.
It's become commonplace – more routine, really. While No. 4 LSU women's basketball has national player of the year candidate Angel Reese and others capable of stepping up, Morris calls for the ball, welcoming pressure.
Or as the senior point guard puts it, "It's really no pressure."
Morris scored 13 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers (27-1, 15-1) nursed a single-digit lead against Mississippi State. They went on to win, 74-59, kicking up the Senior Day celebration more.
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She doesn't downplay the appreciation she has for Kim Mulkey, a relationship that started more than a decade ago. Or the record-breaking scene inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center as the LSU women's basketball hosted the largest paid attendance crowd in the arena's history Sunday at 15,721.
That's because after she left Texas A&M two years ago, Morris believed her playing days to be behind her.
"I'm just happy I didn't give up on myself," Morris said. "And thank you to Coach Mulkey for giving me the opportunity because it's days I thought I'd never see. When I left Texas A&M, I didn't have a sense of direction of even playing basketball: 'This is it. I don't want to do it no more.'"
Mulkey dismissed Morris off her Baylor squad in 2018 following a reported arrest.
Following that was a winding road for Morris that featured a forgettable stop at Rutgers, where she sat out one season due to the then transfer rule and played one season before finding her way closer to home at Texas A&M.
"Alexis Morris, I've known since she was in the seventh grade. I know her good, I know her bad, I know her ugly," Mulkey said. "In turn, she knows my good, my bad and my ugly. Alexis Morris can write a book. And I think it would be a best seller because you would get the truth from an athlete that would not blame a coach like a lot of athletes do.
"To see her come, have fun, play in that kind of atmosphere and have an opportunity to be drafted, it's emotional."
When Morris hit the transfer portal following one season in College Station, Mulkey didn't hesitate to call up her former point guard as she was piecing together her first roster at LSU before the 2021-22 season.
The phone ringing was restored belief, not only from coach to player but for the player herself. Morris rejoined forces with Mulkey and in two seasons, the duo have piled up 53 wins and have now tied the program-record for best regular season record at 27-1.
There's plenty Morris has embraced about her path and on-court performance. Crunch time doesn't cower her, and neither does the result: "I put in a lot of work behind the scenes, so I'm comfortable making those shots, or missing those shots."
Morris' mentality nowadays is rooted in gratitude. And she hopes her final chapter at LSU leads her back home.
"It's been remarkable and memorable. I'm going to miss these days, I'm going to miss LSU," Morris said.
"I want my Senior Night to be in Dallas (where the Women's Final Four is being held). I'm a Texas kid, so my ultimate goal is to get back home. That's where I would love to celebrate my last game, in Texas."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU women's basketball's Kim Mulkey 'emotional' about PG Alexis Morris
