Morton officially joins Purdue
BUTLER TWP — In front of numerous family and friends last May, Butler basketball standout Ethan Morton verbally committed to Purdue University.
He never wavered since.
The 6-foot-5 senior point guard officially signed his letter of intent with the Boilermakers Wednesday. Fellow guard Jaden Ivey from South Bend, Ind., and 7-3 center Zach Edey of the IMG Academy in Florida also signed with Purdue.
The recruiting class is ranked among the top 30 in the country by major recruiting services, including 14th by 247Sports.
“If anything, my commitment to Purdue strengthened since I verbally committed,” Morton said. “I had another official visit there, got to know the team and the coach better.
“I love their style of play. It really suits my game.”
While other schools were permitted to talk to Morton and try to sway him in their direction despite his verbal commitment last spring, none did.
“There's kind of an unspoken rule there,” Morton said. “Unless you put the word out that you're considering elsewhere, they leave you alone. I knew where I wanted to go. All of the coaches were respectful that way.”
Butler boys basketball coach Matt Clement is excited about Morton's final decision..
“This is the final step of a recruiting process that Ethan handled with a lot of class,” Clement said. “He found the program and situation that he can excel in.
“Purdue loves to shoot the 3's. They do a lot of sweep and roll action and they look to set up each other. All of that is Ethan's game.”
Morton carries a 4.2 grade point average at Butler and plans to major in finance.
He also plans to get on the floor right away for the Boilermakers.
“I feel like that's a realistic goal for me. I'm gonna have to earn it, though,” Morton said.
Purdue is coming off a 26-10 season — 16-4 in the Big Ten — and reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers dropped an overtime decision to eventual national champion Virginia at that point.
Purdue has three sophomore and two freshman guards on its roster this year.
“No expectation, nothing guaranteed,” Clement said of Morton's eventual status at Purdue. “He has to go out there and do the job. But, yeah, I feel like he's got a great chance to help them right away.”
Morton averaged 27.5 points, 10 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 2.6 steals per game for the Golden Tornado last season. He has a school-record 1,673 points in his prep career.
He is ranked No. 77 by 247Sports and No. 74 by Rivals in terms of top basketball recruits in the country.
“Ethan might be the best passer we have recruited here at Purdue,” Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said in a released statement. “He really understands the game and knows what is going on.
“He makes other people better and really plays hard. I like him as an offensive point guard because he knows where everyone is on the floor.”
Morton's goals for his senior year at Butler are lofty ones — and team ones.
“Section championship, WPIAL championship, state championship,” he said. “That's the big picture. This community has given me so much support and I can't thank them enough.
“All I want is to reward them with a championship. We all want that so badly.”
