With the way Barako Bull import, Liam McMorrow, made a huge impact for the Energy during his Governors’ Cup debut, it was hard to imagine he was once a hockey player, who never touched a basketball until he was 20 years old.
Here’s a short video documenting McMorrow’s journey by Payal Doshi:
The 7-foot-2 big scored 33 points on 11-for-14 shooting, hauled down 22 rebounds, and shot 11-for-16 from the free throw line to help the Energy eclipse the NLEX Road Warriors.
Basketball however, wasn’t the Toronto-based center’s first sport. Coming from a country where hockey is the national past time, McMorrow spent his high school days armed with skates, pads, sticks, and helmets.
The scorching hot temperature in Manila was nowhere near the freezing depths of the hockey arena he used to call home, But a growth spurt changed all of that, pushing him to switch careers.
“After high school I had a really big growth spurt. I was about 6-5 or 6-6 and went to seven feet. Many said I was athletic and maybe I should try basketball,” McMorrow bared.
“Mostly my mother and girlfriend told me try and see what happens for one year. If it doesn’t go good just go back to regular life. Obviously it went good, and I love basketball.”
McMorrow went on to play for the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, an NCAA Division I school and was later drafted 57th overall by the Iowa Energy in the 2012 NBA D-League draft.
Still learning the ropes, McMorrow says he is just grateful to be part of the hoops industry.
“I think what helps is that I have fresh legs, and I can run and go hard compared to them, which have been playing since they were young. You guys love basketball so much, so it’s fun to play basketball here,” he added.
Highlight reel of Liam McMorrow by sportslist:
