Morgan Paige settling into new role as Iowa State graduate assistant

AMES - Morgan Paige knew her heart wasn't in it anymore.

Thousands of miles away from home on a professional basketball team in Romania, Paige knew her focus wasn't 100 percent on playing anymore. For her, the decision to return home and take a new role on the court was easy.

'I knew that I probably wasn't going to be able to make it through another season of just playing to play,” Paige said. 'I felt like giving back and getting into the gym and really helping kids, have an impact where people had an impact on me.”

Paige, a former all-state player at Marion and All-Big Ten honoree at Wisconsin, was hired as a graduate assistant at Iowa State in August. Through the first several practices, Paige has been a natural fit on the court, which comes from her comfortability with the staff.

As a standout at Marion, Paige was lightly recruited by Iowa State. She developed a connection with ISU assistant coach Jodi Steyer, but opted to commit to Wisconsin and leave her home state. When the chance to get Paige came around a second time, Cyclones Coach Bill Fennelly wasn't going to miss out.

'I think she's a great role model for our players to have another female that's highly intelligent and was a great player at Wisconsin,” Fennelly said. 'She's someone that wants to be a coach and technically, she's very good.”

Part of what makes Paige - who will primarily assist the program with video editing, community relations, player development and recruiting - a good fit is her willingness to be vocal. The ISU roster is primarily filled with players who fall on the quiet side, but Paige has tried to be as opposite of that as she can.

Because she isn't very far removed from her playing days, Paige has been able to relate to ISU players early. Her high basketball I.Q. serves as a fresh perspective on the practice court.

'I was coming over to say something to the players and she was telling them the exact same thing,” Steyer said. 'When they can hear things from multiple voices, that's perfect.”

'She's always down there talking to us, but I just think overall her energy, especially when we're tired the next day,” said sophomore point guard Jadda Buckley. 'I just think that's huge for us and we feed off of that.”

Basketball is in Morgan Paige's blood. Her parents, Ellis and Sherryl, played and coached while her younger brother Marcus' accomplishments at North Carolina speak for themselves. Now in the first couple months of her two-year stint in Ames, Paige is trying to expand her basketball horizons even further.

'Just every opportunity I have, I ask questions and try to learn as much as possible from all of them. Every single one of them brings something different to the table and I'm just trying to soak up as much as I can.

HILTON MADNESS

When: Friday, starting at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7:15)

Admission: Free

On tap: The even will feature a slam dunk competition, 3-point contest and a shooting stars competition NCAA tournament banners for men's and women's basketball will be unveiled.

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