By Paul Meyer
RMUColonials.com
Oct. 18, 2012

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - "Meet The Colonials'' will be held this evening at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

However, you can meet the Colonials here, too.

You know some of them, of course. For example, Velton Jones, Russell Johnson and Lijah Thompson are seniors. You're acquainted with Coron Williams, too. And you certainly enjoyed getting to know Lucky Jones during his freshman year last season.

So here we'll focus on the three new Colonials - junior college transfers Vaughn Morgan and Karvel Anderson and freshman Stephan Hawkins.

Morgan, a 6'6" forward, figures to be of more than usual interest because, one, he's from Pittsburgh and, two, he should play quite a bit as an inside defender and scorer.

"He's a great athlete, a great person,'' Colonial senior guard Velton Jones said. "He's kind of quiet, doesn't really say too much. But he's a great athlete, and he'll do things that will help the team.''

Morgan played his high school ball at Perry Traditional Academy, where in 2009 he helped his team win the City League championship by averaging 18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game en route to being named the City League's Most Valuable Player.

The Colonials were interested in signing Morgan back then, but though Perry is only "20 or 30 minutes'' from Robert Morris, according to Morgan, his journey to the Sewall Center would take him two years to complete and thousands of miles to traverse.

Because he needed to spruce up his academics, Morgan enrolled at Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas, about 30 miles east of Dallas.

"I knew it would be a good opportunity to play basketball and make my grades better,'' Morgan said.

Last season, two other Pittsburgh products joined Morgan at Southwestern - 6'7" forward Henry Pwono from North Catholic and 6'3" guard Corey Bellovich from Keystone Oaks.

"It was helpful,'' Morgan said of having Pwono and Bellovich in Terrell. "It helped me not get homesick.''

Morgan's game improved at Southwestern - and so did his strength. He weighed about 180 pounds at Perry. Now he's at 230.

"I gained a lot of weight,'' Morgan said with a grin.

He arrived back in Pittsburgh last spring still looking for a basketball program in which to continue his career.

RMU head coach Andrew Toole had followed Morgan's progress in Texas through Pittsburgh resident Pete Strobl, a mentor of Morgan's.

"Vaughn was getting some interest from some pretty high levels,'' Toole said.

Toole talked with Strobl.

"We made our case about why we thought this was a good place for Vaughn,'' Toole said. "We had a scholarship and we needed a player like Vaughn. We were very fortunate to get him when we did. We knew he was somebody who could really help us in the Northeast Conference and could have an immediate impact.''

Morgan decided to become a Colonial, even though very few City League players have become Colonials.

"I guess people in Pittsburgh don't see Robert Morris (as) a big-time school,'' Morgan said. "They see Pitt and Duquesne.''

That doesn't bother Morgan.

"I'm proud (to be at RMU),'' he said. "I think (by) coming here I'm going to be able to produce a lot more than I would have if Pitt had happened to offer me (a scholarship). I'll get more time on the court here. And I wanted to be close to home. But at the same time I didn't want to be at home.''

Morgan is the Colonials' first City League player since Schenley's Chaz McCrommon, who from 2001 through 2005 scored 1,623 points for RMU, fourth on the career list.

Morgan, who said he attended one Colonial game four or five years ago, finally will be able to play in front of his family for the first time since high school.

"They can watch me any time they want,'' he said. "I'll be nervous at first, but when the game starts it will go away.''

Morgan's inside strengths should help the Colonials a lot when they begin NEC play in January.

Toole cited LIU Brooklyn's Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere, Quinnipiac's Ousmane Drame and Ike Azotam, Wagner's Jonathan Williams and Bryant's Alex Francis as formidable "four men'' in the NEC.

"In our league, the four spot is a huge position and can kind of make or break you,'' Toole said. "Some of our better (RMU) teams had Jeremy Chappell at the four spot, and he was able to be a mismatch. He was able to provide a huge advantage for us. We need Vaughn to neutralize our opponents' four men (defensively) and then to provide an advantage for us offensively.

"His natural athletic talents are hard to stop in terms of his ability to rebound the basketball, his ability to run the floor, his ability to defend in the post and move his feet on the perimeter.''

Toole and the Colonials have noted Morgan's quiet demeanor.

"He doesn't get excited about a whole lot of stuff,'' Toole said. "He just kind of lays back and goes with the flow. There will be times during practice you might only hear him speak a few times. He's smiling the whole time and you can tell he's enjoying himself, but he's just not a loud, talkative person. He just worries about what he's got to do and how he's got to do it.''

However, Morgan's personality is beginning to emerge.

Junior guard Anthony Myers-Pate told Toole a few days ago that Morgan is "the sneakiest funny guy on the team because he makes little funny side comments.''

But, Myers-Pate conceded, "you have to be close to him to hear them.''

"I think he's starting to get a little more comfortable, even from the basketball perspective,'' Toole said. "You can tell from some of the questions he's asking during practice or coming in to watch film to try to learn what we're doing. I think that's a sign of him being more comfortable. I think when you're uncomfortable you tend to shy away from those kinds of things.''

Like Morgan, Anderson figures to be a key contributor to this Colonial squad.

Anderson, from Elkhart, Ind., arrived at Robert Morris from Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Mich. The 6'2" guard last season averaged 24.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Among his highlights was a 54-point lesson he dropped on Schoolcraft College.

Anderson shot 48 percent from the field, including 43 percent from beyond the arc, and 83 percent (86-of-110) from the free throw line.

His shooting ability is what makes Anderson important to the Colonials. He'll be able to give Williams a rest in the backcourt.

"Coron gets worn down,'' Toole said. "C-Ron doesn't always make the game easy for himself. He works extremely hard in terms of trying to get open. As the year went on last year, he had some ups and downs because there were times when he was tired physically, and we have to do a better job of trying to even out his minutes.

"But at the same time we still needed someone else who could make an outside shot. That's why it was hard to take him off the floor because we didn't have another guy who was really a consistent shooter. Now there's going to be a comfort level. You can say, 'OK, Karvel's out there. We know he can make a shot while C-Ron's getting a rest.'' And I don't think we're going to lose a whole lot when we make that substitution.''

Velton Jones seconds that opinion.

"He can shoot the ball,'' Jones said. "He can really shoot the ball. He picks up on things quickly, so he should be a great help to us.''

Anything else, Velton?

"He can shoot it,'' Jones said - emphasizing Anderson's ability.

Hawkins, a 6'9" forward from Gary, Ind., is a true freshman and thus not as experienced as Morgan and Anderson. He'll be a bit of a work-in-progress, but he should still be able to lend a hand or two inside.

"Last year, Stephan Hawkins was the tallest guy and one of the most athletic guys on his team, and sometimes when you're extremely gifted you have some bad habits because you're able to get away with them," Toole said. "We're trying to break some of those bad habits. Some of those can be being a little bit lazy or cutting corners. And it's not just the new guys. It's everybody. We try and guard against that as much as we can and try to make sure that guys are engaged and energized about the couple hours a day we have practice.

"But in terms of a guy who can make a 15- or 17-footer, in terms of a guy who passes well, who makes winning plays, (Hawkins has) got a chance to really develop.''

Hawkins last season averaged 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game at Bowman Academy in Indiana.

Hawkins, Anderson and Morgan are trying to get accustomed to the Colonials' practice style.

"It's a lot of hard work,'' Morgan said. "I was probably overwhelmed at first. It's a lot harder than junior college or high school. I thought it would be hard, but it's a lot harder than I thought it would be.''

But he doesn't let the hard work get to him mentally.

"I can't let it get into my head because it will build and make me not want to play,'' Morgan said. "So I don't let that happen.''

Hawkins has had his moments early on.

"When he doesn't (understand) something, it's like his eyes get big,'' Jones said. "But he's starting to catch on.''

"It's the pace of everything, the intensity of everything,'' Toole said. "I think Vaughn and Karvel, having experienced some things in junior college, are a little bit more prepared. But still, with how we go from drill to drill and learning new drills, you can see the wheels turning in their head. You can literally see the smoke coming out of their ears. You can see it in their body language. You can see it in their face. You can see the exact point where they're like, 'What am I doing here and what is going on around me?' They just don't have any clue.

"It's definitely overwhelming. In our first few practices, we don't slow it down at all. You're diving off the diving board into the deep end. You can clearly, and I mean clearly, see the point in time where they hit the wall. I think that's why it's good we have some older guys who will kind of grab them and drag them along.''

Jones knows well what the first practices are like for a new Colonial.

"For sure,'' he said. "You just try to talk to them as much as possible and try to help them out with the drills and stuff.''

And Jones also knows the adjustments a player has to make coming from high school, or junior college, to Division I basketball.

"My first official practice, I remember like it was yesterday, I drove left and tried to pull up and shoot a jump shot and Mezie (Nwigwe) just blocked it right back in my face,'' Jones said. "Welcome to D1.''

And, this evening, welcome to the 2012-13 Colonials.

NOTES: The Colonials "open'' the 2012-13 season at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Sewall Center with an exhibition game against St. Vincent ... The Colonials officially begin the season at Rider Nov. 9 ... Morgan's "Pittsburgh Connection'' teammates at Southwestern last season - Pwono and Bellovich - will play this season at East Central University in Oklahoma and Clarion, respectively.