City of Basketball Love

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson)
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Jaren Morton dreamed of playing Division I basketball since he was 12 years old. 

But he didn’t understand the commitment necessary for that dream until a few years later when he watched and learned from Cole Anthony (Orlando Magic) and Cam Thomas (Brooklyn Nets) at the Pangos All-East Freshman/Sophomore camp in New Jersey.  

“That was pretty much my awakening moment that I could really do something,” he said

After two years at Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy and countless early morning workouts with his father, Tarae Morton, the 6-foot-5 senior has achieved his dream. Morton announced his commitment to Virginia Military Institute of the Southern Conference on April 29. 

“It feels like a weight is lifted off my shoulders,” the 2023 First-Team All-Inter Ac wing guard said over the phone, “all the hard work I put in paid off.

“VMI [is] a great program that believes in me.” 

Morton officially visited VMI on April 16 and spent two days on campus meeting the team. He made the five-and-half hour drive from his home and attended a dinner with the entire team along with head coach Andrew Wilson and his family. 

On April 17, VMI formally offered the senior a scholarship. Morton received one other offer from Division II Bloomfield and garnered interest from top-25 JUCO program Barton Community College (Kan.) and Division I programs Elon, NJIT, and Presbyterian. 

Morton received offers from Rider and Siena during his junior season, but those offers were rescinded as both schools turned to the transfer portal.  

“VMI kinda came in strong,” SCH head coach Julian McFadden said. “It was a good fit for him once we started watching the film, figuring out how they played. The biggest thing for any dude is how much love the school is showing me and they showed him a lot of love.” 

Located in Lexington, VIrginia, deep in the Shenandoah Valley region of northwest Virginia, VMI was founded in 1839 as the United States’ first state military college. It currently has an enrollment of 1,685 cadets, all underclassmen, lending their name to the school’s athletics teams, the Keydets. Last year, Wilson’s first as a head coach after a 16-year run as an assistant coach, VMI’s men went 7-25 (2-16 SoCon).

VMI graduates are not required to enlist in the armed forces, but the school enforces strict military discipline, vigorous physical activity, and demanding academics. Morton thinks it will be good for his development as a person and basketball player.   

“I feel like (VMI) is gonna give me structure in my life that I am very much needing,” he said. “It's pretty much just structured schooling [with Division I] athletics of course coming with it.

“They see me making an immediate impact at VMI and fitting that play style (of) getting in transition, getting up-and-down the floor, making a whole bunch of three’s, just playing the right brand of basketball.” 

Morton heads to campus early for a summer academic session on June 15 with his fellow freshman teammates, or “rats,” as all first-year students are referred to until completing the “ratline,” a six-month induction period intended to get them ready for the rigors of the college’s four-year experience. 

He will travel with the team for exhibition games in the Bahamas before the ratline begins on August 19, Matriculation Day.

“Literally right after graduation I get out on the road,” he added. “I don’t think it's gonna hit me ‘til I'm actually on campus by myself, like getting ready to work out everyday and to put my life aside to chase my goals even further.” 

Morton’s journey to VMI took him from Neumann-Goretti as a freshman in 2017-18 back to Winslow Twp (N.J.) as a sophomore and then to McDevitt as a junior, where he was set to stay until the school closed following the 2020-21 season. Taking the opportunity to move into the 2023 class and finally stay somewhere for a couple years, he decided to trust McFadden and go to an SCH program on the rise, McDevitt teammate Alassane Amadou (Marquette) joining him.

“Jaren was kinda one of my first major guys that I was getting,” the eighth-year head coach added. “Bringing him in was easy. He had great grades. He was looking for an opportunity. His school was closing and we presented that opportunity and he took full advantage of it. 

“He turned into everything we kinda imagined him to be.”

The 6-foot-5 guard, who averaged 3.3 ppg as a junior at McDevitt, really found his footing Springside-Chestnut Hill. Morton averaged 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and knocked down 43 3-pointers as a senior.

His best performance came against Inter-Ac rival Malvern Prep. Morton scored 34 points in a 81-71 win that prevented Malvern Prep from winning an out-right Inter-Ac title. 

“I thought a lot of schools were kinda underrating him to an extent,” McFadeen added. “I think he’s a lot better than what people think just in terms of his production.

“He’s a late bloomer.” 

Morton went unsigned longer than he hoped. He first met VMI assistant coach Austin Kenon in mid-march, but his strong support system kept him positive throughout the anxiety ridden college recruitment process. Staying focused and consistent was critical for him. 

“Like this is what we’re gonna do, this is how we’re gonna attack it,” McFadden said. “ And this is what you need to do: stay on top of your academics, make sure you answer the phone when anybody calls you, if you’re interested you need to call them, right?”

“I think my main supports were definitely my parents (and) pretty much all my coaches at SCH,” Morton added. “All my family, like even my sister, she was just saying like ‘I know you’re gonna get what you want, you’re going to, everything is going to fall into place.’

“(I kept) working out, just always staying ready and it just ended up happening for me.”  

Morton’s heading to Lexington with a chip on his shoulder and is planning on turning some heads and proving people wrong. 

“I’m gonna surprise a lot of people at the next level,” he said.  “I’ve been working on my speed and agility, my strength. I've pretty much been putting everything into my work and I feel like once I play that first game at VMI it's just going to be like why did we not get this kid? 

“Why did we miss out on this opportunity? That's pretty much what I want to show people, especially in the Philly area and the tri-state.”

Despite the doubt and lack of recognition by college coaches and scouts, Jaren’s father, Tarae, always believed in him and did whatever was needed for Jaren to play Division I basketball. 

“He was a big part of my recruitment,” Morton said. “We used to wake up at six a.m. every morning, even on school days to get into the gym and get extra shots up. He bought into me when nobody else would. 

“When people were pretty much counting out on me, he was just there, letting me know that I'm still that player that nobody else sees.”