JOHN MORTON INDUCTED INTO N.J. HALL OF FAME

Former Seton Hall star John Morton was inducted into the New Jersey Sportswriters Hall of Fame today. The induction took place at the Annual Sportswriters Banquet in Edison, New Jersey. Morton becomes the 7th member of the Seton Hall community to be elected into the New Jersey Sportswriters Hall of Fame. The others were basketball players Richie Regan, Nick Werkman and Jerry Walker; basketball coach Honey Russell, track coach Johnny Gibson and athletic director Sue Regan. Other notable awards given in the past to those associated with Seton Hall from the N.J. Sportswriters included: 1990 Man of the year – P.J. Carlesimo, 1993 College Athlete of the Year – Terry Dehere and 1989 Pro Athlete of the Year – Craig Biggio.

John Morton was one of the greatest basketball players in Seton Hall history. He came to Seton Hall in 1985 after starring at Walton High School in Bronx, New York. John averaged 37 points per game in his senior year in High School and was named to the New York All State High School team. At Seton Hall he played both point guard and later the 2 guard positions. He led Seton Hall in assists as a sophomore but as a junior he became one of the teams leading scorers when switched to the shooting guard spot. He scored 1621 points during his career while playing for the Pirates. In his junior year he helped lead Seton Hall to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. As a senior in the 1988-89 season John averaged 17.3 points per game on the team which went all the way to the NCAA Championship game against Michigan. The Pirates lost that game in overtime by one point 80-79 (on a very questionable foul call). But for John Morton he had saved his very best performance for his last game as a collegian. That night in Seattle John used a variety of unbelievable moves to score 35 points in the title game. John was also named the Haggerty Award winner that season which is given each year to the outstanding basketball player in the New York – New Jersey Metropolitan area.

After graduating college John was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played for two years with the Cavaliers and then with the Miami Heat. Eventually John played professionally in Spain where he starred from 1993-1999. While playing in Spain, John led the Spanish Pro League in scoring for two consecutive years. He was dubbed "the Michael Jordan of Spain" by the Spanish press.

Since retiring as a player Morton has served as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Seton Hall and later as an administrative assistant to the basketball team. John is now an assistant basketball coach at St. Peters College. His aspiration is to be a head coach at some time in the future. John now lives in East Windsor, N.J. with his wife Giovanni and daughter Schyler.