Despite being known as one of the best basketball players Geneseo has ever seen and having appeared on ESPN for the No. 1 "Top Play of the Day," senior Scott Morton is a down-to-earth guy not quick to let his achievements go to his head.
Originally from Syracuse, N.Y., Morton arrived at his college decision after taking a tour of Geneseo with his brothers as a sophomore in high school. Luckily for the Geneseo populace, Morton fell in love with the campus and based his college decision on academics rather than athletics - regardless of heavy recruitment by other SUNYAC schools, including Oswego and Cortland.
"I wasn't even that great in high school [although] I made All-Conference," said Morton. "I was a three-sport athlete in high school and basketball is easily my favorite sport to play, and I just wanted to continue playing."
Morton majors in business administration with a minor in economics and manages to balance academics enough to maintain a 3.9 grade point average.
"I actually think [basketball] helps me to stay more organized," said Morton. "If I know I have practice, I know I need to get my work done at a certain time during the day. If I didn't have basketball I feel like I would just keep putting it off."
As if Morton's personal achievements - honor in All-SUNYAC and Eastern College Athletic Conference, recognition as a great student athlete by the SUNYAC and College Sports Information Directors Association and standing as Geneseo's third all-time scorer (top three for assists) - weren't enough, Morton managed to make basketball history in December after making a buzzer-beating shot over his shoulder to win the game against Oswego in overtime. This attracted ESPN's attention, making Morton's shot the top play of the day.
"It all happened so quickly," said Morton. "Nothing really went through my head. It was just a natural reaction for me to follow the play."
Morton said his teammates are "really great people" who he is glad to have had the opportunity to develop friendships with and acknowledged that as another advantage to playing basketball in college.
When Morton isn't busy throwing up the shots and studying hard to master his schoolwork, he said he enjoys hanging out with his friends and teammates and watching movies and television.
Morton is also the chair of the Dean's Student Advisor Board for the School of Business and has been involved with business clubs such as the Finance Club and the Association for Operations Management.
Additionally, Morton is chair of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. "This has allowed me to become very involved in the community by doing a variety of volunteer work," said Morton.
After graduation, Morton said he plans to continue playing basketball overseas for two to five years. "As long as I get that kind of experience and I get to keep playing the sport I love for a few more years," he said.
Following his experience overseas, Morton said he will return to the states to obtain his master's degree in business administration and go from there.