Yes, UNI’s Jeremy Morgan has a shot at being taken in Thursday’s NBA Draft

CEDAR RAPIDS — The plan is to go over to former Northern Iowa teammate Seth Tuttle's house in Cedar Falls and chill. Watch it on television and be with friends at the same time.

The more people around to talk and be with, the less Jeremy Morgan will be anxious about Thursday night's NBA Draft in Brooklyn, N.Y.

'Be with some of my close friends and just watch and see what happens,' Morgan said.

The UNI wing has no idea exactly what will happen. He's going into this open minded, which is good.

The NBA Draft consists of only two rounds and 60 picks. The odds are stacked against him.

But you never know. The 6-foot-6 Morgan wasn't invited to participate in the NBA Draft Combine but had individual workouts with five clubs (San Antonio, Chicago, Minnesota, Orlando and Houston) that has him on the league's radar.

ESPN draft guru Chad Ford predicts he'll get taken in the second round by the Boston Celtics, 53rd overall. The Sporting News also thinks he'll go in the second round.

He's got some helium.

'Just doing the same things I've been doing in my college career,' Morgan said. 'Just working hard, getting in the best shape that I can, shooting every day, lifting weights. Just keeping that hard-work ethic that I've had throughout my college career. Just carrying that over.'

Morgan was such a versatile player at Northern Iowa, with the ability to defend, block shots and create steals. He added being a No. 1 scorer to his resume this past season.

But the NBA is a completely different game, and Morgan realizes that.

'Keep working on my ball handling,' he said. 'Keep improving my size, get a little stronger. Just keep working on my foot speed, which can help my closeouts (defensively) and my rotation stuff. Those are probably the three things I've got to keep working on.'

Morgan said he has leaned on Tuttle and fellow former teammate Wes Washpun throughout this process. He has worked out a lot with Washpun, the former Cedar Rapids Washington prep, in particular.

Tuttle has played professionally in Germany and Belgium. Washpun played this past season in Germany and in the NBA Development League.

'They've been giving me advice,' he said. 'What kind of shape I should be in, what kind of drills I should be working on. Stuff like that. They've kind of gone through the same process I'm going through here the past year or so, so I've kind of looked to them to help me out.'

Even if he is drafted Thursday, there's no guarantee Morgan will ever wind up on an NBA roster. Former Iowa Hawkeye Aaron White was a second-round pick, for instance, and has only played in Europe.

Former Linn-Mar prep Marcus Paige was selected by the Utah Jazz in the second round last year out of North Carolina and spent this past winter in the NBDL. Morgan wouldn't bite when asked if he had a feeling whether or not he'll be drafted.

'We'll see,' he said. 'Then I'm just going to kind of go from there. I've talked with my agent, and there are a lot of other things that can happen that are positive if you don't get drafted. I'm just kind of excited for this. We'll let the chips fall where they may and go from there.'

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