Blood is thicker than water, and when the Sun Devils came calling with his cousin offensive lineman Jacob Nunez in the fold, that presented a too good of an opportunity for tight end Ryan Morgan to pass on. The Lompoc, Calif. standout talked about his pledge to the Sun Devils.
“Committing to ASU feels great,” Morgan said. “It’s a big school and it’s everything I’ve been looking for since I’ve been in high school and since I’ve been a little kid. Visiting (unofficially) with Jacob for the Arizona game was my first time at ASU. I met the coaches and they talked me through what’s going on and he showed me the locker room, the facilities and went on a campus tour. Pretty much all of it was really impressive just the way they showed it to me, it’s a big step up from high school. It’s just really cool to see all the stuff and where I’ll be going to class, where I’ll be living, just all that stuff was really interesting.
“The football facility is something I wasn’t expecting. I was kind of shocked because it’s a huge building and they have a food court, a gym, a workout. I was just like ‘wow’ this is something I’ve never seen before. That was something that was really cool."
The 6-3 230 Morgan recorded 41 catches for 680 yds, and an average of 16.8 yards and scored six touchdowns as a senior for the 7-4 Braves
“The way they (ASU coaches) explained it to me they want me to be more of a hybrid wide receiver/tight end. Basically, I will have my hand in the dirt a lot of the time, sometimes flexed out. Basically try to run routes from in the dirt or flexed out. They like my speed for my size, that’s always been one of my strong suits growing up. I was always the light fast kid. I was never super heavy ─ I was always pretty tall, and I run fast. I got bigger in my sophomore year, but the speed never went away. That was one of the key factors I bring to my game and that’s one of the key factors they think I can do well.
“I know I need to work on my blocking ability. Up until my senior year, I’ve only been a wide receiver. My senior year was the first time I ever put my hand in the dirt in my high school career. It was just different. Blocking, it’s not extremely difficult for me, a little tough sometimes because I’ve been just running routes and blocking in space rather than blocking when there’s a guy in front of you. It’s a little different but that’s one of the things I think I need to work on along with my footwork. My footwork is okay, it’s not the best and one of the things that's killed me in the past. It’s just another of the things I need to work on.”
An injury in his junior year prevented Morgan from getting much recruiting attention, so when Wyoming came calling Morgan committed to the Cowboys in July. The Sun Devils, however, kept in touch with him early in the season, which was easy to do as they were naturally also tracking Nunez through the season. That level of ASU contact kept on for a few months until the process picked up some steam earlier in November.
“The ex-tight ends coach, Donnie Yantis contacted me saying that they really liked me,” Morgan recalled, “and that he was talking to Herm Edwards about me and to not be surprised if we get on the phone later. I think it was almost three weeks ago, they called me and offered me. That was crazy because it’s the school my cousin Jacob is going to, all that kind of stuff. I was really psyched. Having my cousin at ASU made it easier to decommit from Wyoming and go there (to ASU). When I got the offer, I was excited and I had to take into account which school I would like better and which would be best for me and my family.
“Just so many factors went towards Arizona State because of the closeness it is to where we live. It’s a lot closer than Wyoming. my family (Morgan’s mother and Nunez’s mother are siblings) is going to be there, Jacob, and all that stuff kind of culminated together and Arizona State was the place for me.”
Morgan’s sentiments towards ASU were so strong, that even the fact that Yantis won’t be on staff anymore didn’t deter him from his resolution.
“On the way back home from the visit we got a call from ASU about Yantis,” Morgan remarked. “They said there was nothing to worry about. Obviously, it’s something unexpected on my part, but they said nothing changes for you we still think you could be a good part of our team. I think everything will be okay and it isn’t as big of a deal as I thought it was going to be.”
Morgan is scheduled to arrive at ASU in the summer and is the Sun Devils’ 17th known commitment in the 2020 class and the eighth known pledge from the state of California.
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Cody Whitehouse contributed to this article
