ITEM PHOTO BY JIM WILSON
Toree Morris, a 6-foot-11-inch former basketball center, sleeps on a cot in the Lynn Shelter, but he is looking to get back on his feet.
By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — When Toree Morris played basketball in Europe, he traveled first class, stayed in fancy hotels and dined like a king.
Today, the 6-foot-11-inch former center sleeps on a cot in the Lynn Shelter and isn’t sure where his next meal is coming from.
“I was living the dream,” said Morris, who turned 35 last week. “I had the glitz and the glam, but now I have to make do with table scraps.”
It wasn’t always that way.
Born in Iowa and raised in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Morris said he was introduced to basketball at age 12 by his father.
“I watched my dad play and I got hooked,” he said.
In high school, Morris was ranked among the nation’s Top 100 prospects by the Insiders Report and dubbed a “diamond in the rough” by a recruiter.
He holds his Tennessee high school’s record with nine blocked shots in a game and 150 of them in a single season. Morris, who attended Clinton High School, averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks per game as a senior and helped Clinton to three consecutive district championships and a three-year record of 79-20.
“When I was a high school senior, I imagined playing pro ball,” he said. “In 12th grade, I went from 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-2.”
He caught the attention of dozens of colleges who tried to recruit him. He chose the University of Pittsburgh because he loved the Panthers, the city and the school, he said. His record from 2000-04 averaged 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 131 games.
“I didn’t have a luxurious college career, but I was a big body and very athletic, so I had plays that people remembered,” he said. “Like the time Carmelo Anthony, who would later join the New York Knicks, tried to dunk on me and I blocked him.”
While a member of the Panthers, Morris played in March Madness, the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, three times.
“We never got to the Final Four, but it was great to play with a bunch of guys like that,” he said. “I loved the camaraderie.”
While still trying to make a career of basketball, Morris played in 21 Euroleague games from 2003-5. The league features top-tier-level professional players in competition.
In 2005, Morris got a shot at the NBA when he tried out for the Raptors. He was with the team for three weeks until he was released after accumulating six points along with six rebounds in five preseason games.
“It sucked,” he said of Toronto’s decision. “I was not a big scorer, that wasn’t my thing, I would guard anybody, get rebounds and score inside, but it wasn’t enough.”
He was later invited to the Boston Celtics Training Camp in Waltham for a tryout, Morris said. But he didn’t make the team.
A Celtics spokesman said he couldn’t find any record of Morris. “But that’s not unusual for guys to come in to be looked at for a few days and there would be no official record of it,” said Christian Megliola.
When the Celtics didn’t work out, it was party time, Morris said. He rented an apartment in Lynn, started hanging out late nights and got arrested several times.
“I fell out of love with basketball, starting drinking and, in 2008, had a knee injury,” he said. “All that alcohol hurt my lifestyle and made my joints deteriorate.”
In 2009, he served a six-month sentence at the Middlesex County Jail for assaulting his girlfriend.
“I pled guilty,” he said. “It wasn’t the end of the world being locked up, but when I got out I was stigmatized by what had happened, that I had put my hands on a woman.”
After the conviction, he had a hard time finding work. He briefly sold Kirby vacuums, worked for a debt collection company and eventually found a job at the YMCA of Metro North in Lynn.
Audrey Jimenez, executive director of the Y, said three years ago she was brainstorming with staff about how they needed a strong trainer.
“At that very moment, Toree showed up and told us of his skills and certifications and we said ‘We will hire you right now,’ ” she said. “It was like he fell from the sky.”
Morris made a huge impact as a personal trainer at the fitness center, Jimenez said, members liked him and his approach to getting in shape.
“He mentored our members and they took to him really well,” she said. “He can train and work you out like no other, he has a gift.”
But a year after he was hired, Morris and the Y parted ways. Jimenez said he wasn’t ready for a traditional 9-to-5 job and had difficulty with the organization’s chain of command.
“He was an inconsistent worker,” she said. “But I liked him personally very much and we all wish him the best.”
The job loss led to getting evicted and becoming homeless.
Morris said he is close to getting an apartment and finding a job. He is working with the state’s Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission to launch a new career.
“I don’t drink anymore, but I do smoke weed, but I’ve been thinking of quitting,” he said. “I’m hopeful for my future.”
Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@itemlive.com.