Morbley Blames Departure on Rift With Cassidy

Damion Morbley, who abruptly quit the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team in the middle of a game Wednesday night, said Friday he felt he was treated unfairly by Coach Pete Cassidy.

“It’s like it’s my fault that they are 4-13,” Morbley said. “It’s a lot of stuff that’s been building up. I have not been happy since I got here.”

Morbley said he tried to iron out his problems with Cassidy but could not. “I can’t talk to him,” Morbley said. “He doesn’t listen to me. He always thinks that I’m talking back to him. That man is very hard to communicate with.”

Cassidy, reached Friday at his hotel with the team in Cedar City, Utah, disagreed.

“I spent probably more time trying to communicate with him than any other single player on the squad,” Cassidy said. “I can’t imagine how he said he was treated unfairly.”

Cassidy said Thursday he was unhappy with Morbley’s play. Despite leading the team with a 16.7-point average, Morbley strayed from the team concept too often, Cassidy said.

Morbley, a 6-6 junior from Orange Coast College, had a tumultuous season. He was benched for a game in December after missing a practice. He was then held out of three games because of academic problems.

Still, Morbley thought he was on the right track before playing only six minutes in the first half Wednesday night.

“I thought everything was put behind us,” he said. “I thought I had paid my price and everything was cool.”

After leaving the gym, Morbley went to his father’s house in Los Angeles. He said he stayed up all night talking to his father and trying to figure out what will happen next.

“I feel betrayed,” he said. “Basketball is not everything to me. There are other things I can do. I know that I messed up with grades and everything, but this is the first time I’ve ever done this.” Morbley said he will take classes this semester at Northridge, then attempt to transfer.

“I’m going to figure out something to do,” he said, “but it definitely will not be coming back here.”