Morris and Campbell Center Knicks’ Attention

GREENBURGH, NY, June 22, 2005 -- Friday morning at the Knicks Madison Square Garden Training Center was enough to drive even the most devoted numerologist to desperate distraction. Really, what do you get when you put two top SEC centers into one workout? Nearly 14 feet of surprises.

Kentucky’s Randolph Morris was shocked when told that draft insiders have been potentially hooking him up with the Knicks (on the 30th pick) for weeks. And the press was shocked that he was shocked. “Really? I had no clue,” the soft-spoken Morris shook his head. “But that would be cool.” No cooler than Mississippi State middleman Marcus Campbell -- a virtual collegiate replica of Ben Wallace style-wise -- was to the comparison to Ben Wallace. “I don’t like the way Ben plays,” he says. “Defensively, he’s good, I guess. But his offensive game…” On offense -- surprise, surprise -- the defensively devastating Campbell has yet to average double figures in any of his four college seasons and scored six points a game last year.

The gloriously gifted Morris, who was accused of not enough focus during his freshman year with the Wildcats, then stuns with “I’ve got no interests or hobbies,” he says. “Just basketball. That’s all I do.” Which may explain why the 6-11, 270-pound 19 year-old already has more moves around the hoop than a desperate aficionado wearing a bad toupee in an East Side singles bar. “I was debating pretty heavily about entering the draft a year ago but then I postponed it,” he says. “I didn’t think I was quite ready. But now I am. It didn’t hurt me or anything but, frankly, I don’t know if a year of college helped me all that much basketball-wise. Still, it matured me as a person for sure, both physically and mentally.”

“I’ve always struggled with mental toughness -- in high school things were too easy, I dominated based on pure athleticism -- but now I think I’m ready to contribute at the NBA level, especially with my back-to-basket game,” he adds. “Ever since I started to play ball as a little kid that was my favorite aspect of basketball, operating under the hoop. I’m aware of the fact that I need to improve every other way though. And, for me, the NBA is the best place to do that.”

“For now, I could come in and compliment the other players who are already here and contribute with little things, hustle plays and such,” says Morris. “I feel it takes two years to establish yourself. Once I do that…”

Marcus Campbell has often been compared to defensive specialist Ben Wallace. MSG Photos

The big guy with the huge variety to his game who HAS been compared to Tim Duncan flashes a “the sky’s the limit” smile. “Some great big men, like Patrick Ewing came through here,” says Morris. “To step into their shoes, it would be a great thing.”

The 7-foot, 280-pound Campbell is a very big man ready to do all the little things. “Block, shots, rebound, set screens, help the guards get shots, run the floor,” he says. “I’m old-fashioned, so that’s my game. Play within your limitations. Play a role. And most of all, play defense.”

Campbell confesses to being a huge Knick fan throughout the 1990-s, because “I love underdogs -- I’ve always felt I’m one of them. It just feels so much better when you do the unexpected, when you beat people as an underdog. And the Knicks were always the underdogs playing Michael Jordan.”

Morris aspires to be a Knick fan after June 28th. “To play for a player and manager of (President, Basketball Operations) Isiah Thomas’ caliber, it would be an honor,” he says. “I think I could contribute something significant to this team. I hope they’ll give me the chance to do it.”