Aneesah Morrow's Breakout Shouldn't Surprise You

With more playing time, Morrow is proving exactly why she was the 7th pick in the WNBA draft.

The 2025 WNBA season has been miserable for the Connecticut Sun. The 2-15 start is uncommon for the franchise that’s spent the last eight seasons in the playoffs and holds a .561 all-time winning percentage .

Team president Jennifer Rizzotti and General Manager Morgan Tuck are in the midst of a rebuild that started this offseason when the entirety of their starting lineup was either traded away or lost via free agency. Only two players from the 2024 roster returned for the 2025 season: Marina Mabrey and Olivia Nelson-Ododa.

To begin the rebuild, Connecticut went to work by drafting two collegiate stars in Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers with the 7th and 8th picks of the 2025 draft (read my thoughts on Saniya Rivers here).

Before the 2025 WNBA draft, there were a variety of takes on what Morrow’s ceiling could be. At LSU, Morrow played a role predicated on grabbing rebounds, playing with a high motor, hustle, and finishing under the basket - the epitome of a Kim Mulkey player. She led NCAA D-1 with 13.5 rebounds while scoring 18.7 points per game. Through four years of collegiate play she averaged 2.6 steals per game, and led the Big East in steals twice during her time at Depaul. Because of her stature, standing at only 6’1, some feared her brand of basketball wouldn’t translate to the pros. In June we started to get answers to some of these questions with Morrow having multiple breakout games, including a 20 point, 11 rebound performance against the Seattle Storm.

The physicality of the WNBA doesn’t seem to bother her offensively; she’s 12/24 on shots at the rim. Even though she’s facing bigger players, she’s still grabbing rebounds, fighting through contact, and putting the ball back up. Although Morrow only averages 13.9 minutes, she’s totaling 1.4 offensive rebounds per game (23 on the season). On a team that’s as bad as Connecticut, getting your team extra offensive possessions is key to staying in games.

There were also doubts about her outside shooting ability and the potential for improvement. If her ability to be a force in the paint was diminished by her height, how would she make an impact offensively?

Anyone who watched Morrow consistently last season should have seen the potential in her shot. In the NCAA tournament Morrow went 3/7 from three and has continued to improve on that shot in the pros; this season Morrow is 6/17 from three (35%), and 4/8 on shots from 16 feet to the three point line.

Morrow isn’t a player that needs a complete restructure of her jumpshot coming out of college. I feel people overlooked her potential because she didn’t play a role at LSU that required her to take many outside jumpers. In her sophomore season at Depaul Morrow attempted 6.3 threes per game before dropping down to just over one per game at LSU. I’m not a person that thinks LSU holds players back from development, but I do think she’s in a better situation to develop that outside shot than she was just a few months ago.

Connecticut needs to put energy into getting Morrow the playing time she needs to succeed and develop. When she’s on the court she’s producing; in games where Morrow plays 20 minutes or more, she’s averaging 17.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.3 offensive rebounds, and 3.3 steals. In those games where she plays more than 20 minutes, she’s still only averaging 25.3 minutes per game.

Although I’ve mentioned quite a few statistics, Morrow isn’t a player that needs statistics to prove their value. The casual fan can tell by watching her what she brings to the floor by her motor alone. She makes a visible difference in terms of effort and energy for a team that’s batting through the beginning stages of a rebuild.

Looking back at the 2025 draft, Morgan Tuck and the Sun did a great job selecting two players that play a similar brand of basketball in Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers. Without Marina Mabrey on the floor, Connecticut struggles to have any chance in games they play. June was a month of ups and downs for the Sun; in some games there would be improvements, while in others you feel like you’re watching a team that, no matter how hard they try, has no chance.

With the WNBA trade deadline a month away, I’m curious to see if the Sun front office will make any moves to acquire draft picks to expedite the rebuild. In the meantime Connecticut fans get a front row seat to Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers’ development.