Rodney Terry lauds attitude of Arterio Morris throughout season

It might be frustrating to a former five-star to wait his turn behind experienced players on a top-notch team. With that said, Texas head coach Rodney Terry has already seen enough flashes from freshman guard Arterio Morris to know that, regardless of how many minutes he gets, he’s going to make an impact on this season and the rest of the seasons he plays in his career.

Terry praised Morris following the No. 8 Longhorn’s 72-54 win over No. 23 Iowa State. As talented as Morris is, he thinks he will only improve thanks to the help of his older teammates as well as with the right mindset he has shown when it comes to his role on this season’s team.

“Arterio Morris is an extremely talented player,” said Terry. “He’s playing on an older team and the older guards have really embraced him. They’ve really tried to help him this year. I think he’s done a great job of really taking their tutelage, whether it be in practice, in games. They sky is the limit on how good he’s going to really be.”

“I mean he’s a super talented player. And he’s really bought into the defensive side of the ball as well…He’s really bought into that role. And, offensively, he’s going to be as good as he wants to be. He’s a guy that can get downhill, he’s a guy that can shoot the basketball. He’s an extremely talented player,” Terry said. “If he continues to have the kind of approach he has right now? Finishing the year strong? There’s gonna be moments down the stretch where he’s gonna be an impactful player.”

Morris has been decent during his opportunities at an average of 12 minutes per game in 28 games. Overall, he’s averaging 5.1 points and 1.6 rebounds with over half an assist and steal per game.

Again, it certainly might frustrate another top point guard recruit in his class to not get an opportunity on a team like Texas that features several experienced players that are high-usage. Even so, Terry has full belief in the idea that Morris can make an impact on how the Longhorns end this season as well as him eventually becoming a star in the future.

“His future is very bright,” Terry said. “He’s a really, really talented young player that has a chance to definitely be a next-level player throughout the course of his career as he continues to work and continues to get better.”