ELITE+: NC State Guard Casey Morsell Interested In Politics?
In this exclusive Elite+ video feature, NC State guard Casey Morsell shares his thoughts on the importance of NIL, life after basketball, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the feature with Morsell. We’ve also provided a transcript below of several questions from the interview.
What were your thoughts when NIL was approved by the NCAA?
Yeah, I was definitely shocked that they were willing to even discuss taking the next steps. Obviously when they were first, or when it was first developing I was at UVA, and it was one of those things that was kind of overlooked, because it was just like, “No way this could really be true.”
But when they actually started taking the steps to really change the landscape of college basketball in terms of athletes getting paid, it was shocking in a way. It was also a sense of excitement, a sense of joy that we could benefit from our image and likeness.
You are majoring in political science at NC State and are on track to get your degree. What went into pursuing political science as your field?
Poli sci, I originally got into it not knowing what I really wanted to do after basketball, but as I got deeper into it, I realized that poli sci could create a lot of opportunities for me in so many different fields, whether it be sports, politics, just anything in general.
I think everything kind of revolves around some form of politics, and that's kind of what I wanted, I wanted something that would really give me options after basketball so that when I am done, I have something to always fall back on.
How are you able to take some of the things you've learned pursuing your degree and transition it to the basketball court?
Obviously with majoring in poli sci, there's so many different experiences in terms of... and class experiences, in terms of I would say debating, or just constantly having to write papers and figure out how to express what's on your mind and your beliefs.
Teamwork, there's a lot of different opportunities in terms of the major that you could work with different people, and you could learn from other people by hearing their views and hearing their opinions on everything.
I guess that translates to basketball in terms of the teamwork aspect and communicating, and making your beliefs clear in terms of how it could benefit all.
This is your first year playing at NC State, and it seemed that you were more vocal as the season went on. Is that accurate?
For sure, I think this season had a lot of different ups and downs. It was a roller-coaster, essentially, and I think there was, like you said, an adjustment in terms of getting used to how things are ran, trying to figure out where I could find my niche and where I could best fit in terms of not just playing, but in terms of fitting in with the locker room and being around the team.
I think as time went on and things started to happen, I started to get more and more comfortable because I think that was the best thing for the team. It would get the best out of certain guys.
I think in terms of a leadership role, you've got to communicate with different guys differently. I started to figure that out, in terms of some guys you can't... they need that push in order to get them going. Some guys you've just got to fall back on. So I really learned that about different guys around the team, and I think it was the best thing for us.
You mentioned it, it was a rollercoaster season, some ups, some downs. When you look at a year like this, how do you feel big picture, things can get right back on track? Wake Forest has turned it around quickly, Virginia Tech, Miami... Notre Dame. Several programs in the league went from the bottom to the top in the span of one year.
For sure.
When you see that, is it, “Hey, we can turn this thing around and get it right back going right away?”
100%, 100%. I think here at State, we have all the tools in the toolbox to do everything we need to do, but it takes a team, and honestly a team is not just players. It's coaches, managers, everyone.
It takes everyone in the program fully being locked in, fully being bought in, to achieve what those teams did, but I think here, it's all about locking in on the little things, mastering the little things, the things that don't require any talent.
Once you figure out those things, scoring the ball and getting stops, that will all figure itself out and that will lead to a lot of wins.
You chose to come to NC State from Charlottesville, and you've now been in Raleigh closing in on a year. What are your impressions of the city, the town, the university since you've been here?
I love Raleigh. I'm loving it. I'm actually on spring break and decided to stay here instead of going home.
So I really love the town. It kind of reminds me of home a little bit in terms of the pace. It's not as fast as the DC, D-M-V area, but it's similar in terms of the hospitality and how people communicate with each other.
I just think it's very homey. It's very homey, and that's what I really like best about it. Obviously being in Raleigh it works well because there's so many students at State that kind of fit that mold, that Raleigh mold or that North Carolina mold of that southern hospitality in a way, and it fits me well. It fits me well for sure.
As a player, you're now going to be entering year four of your college career. Where are some areas you really want to hone in on this off season and try and improve?
Of course I need to improve in all areas. I think my shot could still be better, and my defense could still be better. That's probably the two best things that I do, but I think for sure for me is just working on my handle, being a more, a better playmaker. I've got to be better in terms of assists, getting more guys involved.
But also in general, I just think leadership, being a guy that could push guys and get the best out of guys, but also being a good example.
I think this past season, I started to kind of reach, started to kind of increase as the year went on and towards down the stretch, but just from the jump just being that guy, with me coming back for my second year I kind of know how things work and what this team needs to really be successful. So I think just applying those tools, and I think that would be the best thing in terms of helping this team reach success.
You suffered the ankle injury I think in the Nebraska game.
Yeah.
That set you back for a couple weeks. How tough was that for you?
I was playing and I had a role, everyone had a role really. Everyone kind of accepted their role. That's why we were kind of, we were really good starting off. We should've started off undefeated before that, we should've beat Oklahoma State, but that's a conversation for another day.
Anyway, with the ankle injury, I think it was tough for a lot of reasons. I think first reason is that when I hurt it, I kind of rushed back, because I really wanted to play against that Purdue, so I did everything I could. Even though I wasn't 100%, I just said you know what? You get to play against the number one team in the country, so I just went out there and did it anyway.
It was different because of different roles. Everyone had to step into a different role, and it kind of impacted the rest of the season, you know what I mean? Everyone's role was just completely different. For me, it took me a while... longer than I expected, to kind of work my way back and get a feel for everything, because there's just the little things in terms of my shot was off, I didn't have enough power to really go and finish over guys. So I had to kind of adjust and do everything different. The team was kind of evolving because roles were different and we were starting to lose a bit more, so everything's changing so rapidly in a way.
That's why I think it was so tough, because it was just... it didn't just impact me. It impacted the whole team.
What's been the biggest highlight for you since you've been at NC State?
Biggest highlight... I would say that Nebraska game. That was, Wow. I've never been in a game with four overtimes before, and just seeing the team rally around me, a guy like Thomas Allen who hadn't played all game, essentially all year really, he's just thrown out there I think at some time in overtime... I think the first overtime because guys are in foul trouble, guys are hurt, guys are ejected.
Just seeing guys rally around and just figure out a way to win that game, it shows how good this team can really be when we're all clicking. I think it gives us hope, not just for this past, but it gave us hope for the future in terms of next year and the year after that. I think that we showed glimpses of our strong foundation, but it's just keeping that consistent and doing that every single day, and that would put us in the best position.
