LSU is having an interesting season so far. Or, as Aneesah Morrow puts it, "It's been a rocky road dealing with a lot of things." But while constant headlines can be distracting, Morrow has found a way to thrive in her first season with the Tigers.
Morrow credits her team's resilience for making that happen.
"That says that as a team we are resilient," Morrow told CBS Sports. "Everything that has been thrown at us from the coaching staff, the administration, from other players and teammates, we've taken that straight forward and we've accepted it."
LSU added even more star power after winning the 2023 national championship, but the Tigers suffered an upset loss to Colorado in their first game of the 2023-24 campaign. It was a shaky start, and then the team was hit with more challenges. Last year's leading scorer and rebounder, Angel Reese, missed four games; Kateri Poole, a starter during last year's national title run, is no longer with the team; Sa'Myah Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury; and Hailey Van Lith has been out all of December while dealing with plantar fasciitis.
"We said that even though these things are happening to us as a team, we have to still have each other's backs," Morrow said. "We have to stay present within the moment to accomplish the things that we have to accomplish."
Have the issues raised some questions about LSU's chances to repeat? Sure, but the team has been using those doubts as fuel. In fact, Morrow enjoys the challenge of proving people wrong.
She joined the Tigers after spending two seasons with DePaul, where she recorded 53 double-doubles in 66 career games. Morrow was one of the top players in the transfer portal this summer, but not everyone was impressed.
"I've seen a lot of write ups," Morrow said. "I've seen a lot of stuff, even though a lot of people might think we don't, as athletes we see it. Coming into the season I knew that there were going to be a lot of things that I would have to deal with."
One of the main criticisms Morrow read about regarded her defensive ability, so that motivated the Chicago native to put more of an emphasis on defense during her workouts.
"I want to be the most versatile player that I possibly can be," Morrow said. "I know that if I can defend, I could score at the highest level and I could guard some of the best players.
"That's what separates me from everybody else."
Morrow is currently averaging 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. She also has a team-high 34 steals and 17 blocks. Those are solid stats on a star-laden team like LSU, but she is not quite satisfied yet.
"I want to get that to at least 13 or 14 [rebounds per game]. I know it's going to be hard, so I'm going to need to have some big rebounding games," Morrow said. "I want to also break the school record for steals. I've come so close to it, and I know I can do that any given night if I continue to stay aggressive."
Morrow had nine steals, one shy of the program record, against Kent State on Nov. 14. This kind of internal drive and goal setting has not gone unnoticed by LSU coach Kim Mulkey.
"Aneesah plays with a little chip on her shoulder, kind of like most great ones do," Mulkey said. "I don't know of a great athlete that doesn't have some way to motivate themself and have a chip on their shoulder. It could be a comment that's made, it could be anything. She has that internal chip on her shoulder where she knows she can play at any level, and somewhere along the way she's expressed it."
Morrow said she always among the top-ranked players growing up in the South Side of Chicago, but still felt like she was underrated and overlooked. Those feelings motivated Morrow to roll up her sleeves and put in the work to reach her goals.
To reach that next level, Morrow knew she had to transfer from DePaul to LSU, which was a difficult decision because it meant moving away from home. Morrow, though, pictured herself playing for Mulkey and LSU when she saw the Tigers lifting the championship trophy.
"That's going to be me one day. That's going to be me playing on the TV screen and having all my family watch me," Morrow recalled thinking. "... In a way, me being here now shows that everything that I worked towards and I admired when I was younger, I can now actually be in it."
But she is not just "in it" -- Morrow has quickly become one of the strongest all-around players for LSU. Mulkey's coaching style and ability to challenge players to be better on and off the court is a big reason why, says Morrow, who describes her coach as "one of the best."
LSU has gotten back on track since the aforementioned game against Colorado, winning all 11 of its ensuing games, including a historic 133-44 domination of McNeese State on Dec. 12. That was the most points scored in school history and a program-best margin of victory.
"I feel like Coach Mulkey does a lot of things to wake [the team] up," Morrow said. "Like in the game before against Lafayette, she took four of the starters out just to be like, 'Come on now, we gotta get it together.' I feel like in that second half she just challenged us to go out there and play together.
"'Just to go out there and have fun.' That's one thing Kim Mulkey always tells us, to go out there and have fun. Not just play basketball to play basketball; it has to be meaningful to you."
For Morrow, one of the best games her team has played this season was against Virginia Tech on Nov. 30. The then-No. 9 Hokies were going to be the Tigers' first ranked opponent since Colorado. It also happened to be the game in which Reese returned to the lineup after some issues the team chose to keep within the locker room.
Morrow said her team was well aware of all the comments being made about LSU and the questions about whether they had what it takes to beat the Hokies. While the noise on social media had hardly died down, the Tigers pulled off an 82-64 statement victory.
That was also one of Morrow's most versatile games as she put up 19 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and three steals. Along with Flau'jae Johnson, she was tasked with guarding Virginia Tech star Elizabeth Kitley and held her to just 6-of-16 from the field. There was nothing particularly special about the preparation for that game -- it was simply the Tigers having each other's backs.
"We just try to stay present," Morrow said. "We have to remember that a lot of odds are against us. When you are doing well a lot of people want to see you fail. If we have each other's backs, that's all that matters."
