Morse’s Morrison Decides on Ohio State; Point Loma’s Brown Commits to USC

Tyrone Morrison, one of the top linebacking prospects in the country, said Tuesday night that he has committed to attend Ohio State and will sign a national letter of intent today, the first day of a two-week signing period for high school players.

Morrison, a 6-foot-4 230-pounder from section 3-A champion Morse, was one of three Times’ All-County players to announce his intentions Tuesday. Point Loma’s Marcel Brown, a USA Today All-American, selected USC; and Larry Anderson, of Chula Vista, picked Weber State.

A fourth, Joe Temple of Lincoln, backed away from his earlier commitment to San Diego State and said he now expects to wait until after basketball season.

Morrison, a Parade Magazine All-American, narrowed his choices to Arizona State and Ohio State before selecting the latter because of the school’s strong business program and football tradition.

“Arizona State opened my eyes,” Morrison, 17, said. “But a degree from Ohio State is more valuable, I think, than Arizona State.”

One of Morrison’s closest friends, Morse defensive back Darrell Lewis, committed to Ohio State more than a week ago. Morrison said he didn’t choose the Big 10 school because Lewis did.

Morrison said he has always like Ohio State but didn’t figure he was a Big 10-caliber player until late this season. He said he got the impression during recruiting that he could see action his first season in Columbus.

“I hope to get a lot of playing time,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I’m not going to red-shirt. They put it in my mind that I should be getting a lot of playing time, if not start.”

Morrison, a Times All-County linebacker and the City Eastern League defensive player of the year the past two seasons (sharing the honor with Brown in ‘88), also took visits to Colorado, Washington and UCLA.

Brown, a highly recruited defensive back and Times All-County selection, joined Al Aliipule and Junior Moi, both of Rancho Buena Vista, as San Diego-area football players who have committed to USC.

Brown also considered San Diego State, UCLA, Cal, and Arizona State.

Temple, who had verbally committed to play football at San Diego State, said late Tuesday that he probably will not sign with SDSU today.

“My position now is that I will probably just wait,” he said. “I’m not sure, but I’ll probably wait until after the basketball season.”

Temple, a tight end, played in only 1 1/2 games for Lincoln after breaking his wrist in the second game of the football season against Point Loma. As a guard/forward for the Hornets basketball team, Temple, 6-feet-2, is the county’s third leading scorer with a 25.4 average.

Temple visited SDSU this past weekend, after taking earlier trips to New Mexico and Weber State.

Anderson, 6-2, 240, was the Metro Conference defensive player of the year and a Times All-County second-team selection.

Blair Noonan, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from San Pasqual, has made an oral commitment to attend Pepperdine on a volleyball scholarship.

Noonan, 17, the Avocado League player of the year, said she chose Pepperdine over San Diego State because of its location and because its enrollment wasn’t as large.

Noonan is the third member from the San Diego Volleyball Club’s current 17-Elite team to verbally commit to a Division I school. Lynn Patrick of earlier committed to California, and Alicia Turner of University of San Diego High committed to Notre Dame.