Morgan signs with LSU

BATON ROUGE - The LSU Athletics Department and men's basketball Coach Trent Johnson announced on Wednesday that the school has received the signed national letter of intent papers from highly-ranked guard Malik Morgan from River Ridge, La.

Morgan, who is 6-3, is entering his senior season at John Curtis High School.

Morgan has garnered national recognition from the recruiting sites, ranking No. 75 overall in The Rivals 150 for the class of 2012. The four-star prospect is also ranked 11th in the country at the shooting guard position.

This past year Morgan averaged 28.9 points a game, including a career-high 52 points in one game against Riverside. He also averaged nine rebounds, two steals and two assists a game.

"We are very excited about the addition of Malik Morgan to the LSU Basketball family," said LSU Coach Trent Johnson. "Besides coming from a great family, Malik is a very, very good basketball player. He is very skilled -- not a good scorer, but a great scorer. One of the most impressive things about Malik besides his offensive skills and his ability to make players better, is his overall competitiveness. He is very competitive and he is going to have a huge impact on our team next year. Without question, I didn't see a better guard in the state of Louisiana, let alone his rankings as one of the best guards in the country."

Morgan's mother, the former Detra Brown, was a four-year letter-winner in volleyball while at LSU where she was twice an All-SEC selection. She still ranks fourth at LSU in career kills (1,504) and is one of only five players in the program's history to ever record 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills in a career.

Morgan chose LSU over Boston College, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma and UTEP.

LSU opens its 2011-12 men's basketball season this Saturday at noon at the Maravich Center against Nicholls State. Admission is free.