Sounders FC Academy product and Stanford forward Jordan Morris was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year on Tuesday, the latest in a string of collegiate accolades for the Mercer Island native during his time on campus in Palo Alto.
Morris, 21, was also named to the All-Pac-12 team for the third time in as many seasons with the Cardinal, who won their second straight outright conference title this year. Morris is currently on international duty with the U.S. National Team and earned his seventh career cap in the team’s World Cup qualifier win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week.
Morris has scored eight goals and added two assists in 13 games this year for Stanford, who will carry a No. 8 seed into the 2015 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship when the first round opens on Thursday.
Morris is the first Stanford player to be named Pac-12 Player of the Year since former Sounders player Roger Levesque earned the honor in 2001.
Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey said last week that although the club has offered Morris a contract in the past, the two sides can't reopen conversations until the close of the NCAA season.
"He’s still playing in college, so technically I can’t talk to him right now, because we don’t want to jeopardize his availability,” Lagerwey said. “He’s having a great season for Stanford, and several of us have seen him play a couple of times this year. He’s a kid with a bright future. As I’ve said since the second day I took the job, Jordan will sign if he wants to sign. There’s nothing we can do about it, and we hope he does.
“I hope he goes to school as long as he wants to go to school, and when he’s ready to come out, he comes home.”
