Salisbury’s Morrison Earns Scholarship

New England Recruiting Report | Saturday, May 3rd, 2014

Salisbury School’s Mackenzie Morrison has accepted a scholarship to attend the University of Ottawa in Canada next year.  A native of Barrie, Ontario (about an hour and a half north of Toronto), Morrison opted to return north of the border for several reasons, despite getting late interest from several D1 and D2 schools in the states.
 
A six-foot-six long range shooter and a solid defender, Morrison came to Salisbury at the start of his junior year.  He was a two year starter and led the Crimson Knights with a 16.7 points and  7.5 rebounds per game while earning 2nd team All-NEPSAC Class A honors this past season.  Morrison made 41% of his three point attempts.  In a 32-point performance against the Williams College JV, he made nine-of-14 from behind the college arc.
 
“Returning back home became more and more important for Mackenzie as he went through the recruiting process,” noted Salisbury coach Jeff Ruskin.  “His father passed away last summer and Mack felt it was important to be closer to his mom.”
 
“The coach at Ottawa and I have a great relationship.  It is close to home, very good school, and they have a very strong basketball program,” said Morrison, who will major in marketing.  “Ottawa is one of the top teams in Canada and the coaching staff has sent multiple players pro overseas.  The business school at Ottawa is one of the best in the country, which heavily influenced my decision.”
 
“My time at Salisbury has improved me as a person drastically,” added Morrison, who was steered toward the prep school by his CIA Bounce AAU coaches.  “My grades have improved to a 90+ average, the basketball has been great and I was surrounded by a plethora of great people.  My teammates at Salisbury are my second family.  They helped me through a tough time in my life with a family tragedy that happened over the summer.  They pushed me to better myself, so I will be prepared for the next level.  Going against KJ Lee  every day in practice helped me improve my defense and ball handling ability substantially.”