This is it for Aneesah Morrow. She doesn't have a COVID year, and she never redshirted. Her second season at LSU will double as her last at the collegiate level, her fourth and final shot to reach the Final Four and develop into one of a few select players who can compete at the next level.
Last season, Morrow needed to fit in and prove she could play in a power conference.
This year, she has to help LSU find its identity and make some final alterations to her game before she tries it on in the WNBA.
"Coming here last year," Morrow told The Advocate, "I was stepping into a different culture, a different team, of course, and just trying to figure out how I could adapt to being on LSU's team with a lot of new faces."
A year later, Morrow is no longer a new face. Coach Kim Mulkey recently sat down with the star LSU forward, a self-described introvert, and challenged her to speak more. To bottle up the fire and passion she displays on the court and bring it into the locker room, where she can use it to help LSU blend its seven returners and five newcomers into a cohesive, title-contending unit.
That group defeated Eastern Kentucky by 51 points Monday in its season opener. Morrow, Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams combined to score 63 points on 26-of-40 shooting, teaming up to lead LSU to its first win of the new season.
If that trio can give LSU more of that same production, then the Tigers will be on track to pick up more similarly dominant nonconference wins, starting at 7 p.m. Friday with their second game of the season, a home contest against Northwestern State (SEC Network+).
"You're gonna have four or five on this team that can be double-figure scorers every night," Mulkey said.
Because Angel Reese moved onto the WNBA, Morrow must now shoulder greater scoring and rebounding responsibilities -- a task she's taken on before.
Her two highly productive seasons at DePaul allowed her to become one of only two active Division I players with at least 2,200 career points, a mark she'll hit Friday when she scores her first field goal. Morrow is also the country's active leader in career rebounds (1,239), and she's on pace to complete her eligibility with more career boards than LSU great Sylvia Fowles and all but three players all-time.
At the end of the season, Morrow is hoping to parlay those impressive numbers and her versatility into a move to the WNBA. ESPN's first mock draft predicted she'll come off the board within the first three picks.
"I'm kind of interested to see in what areas she has grown this year," ESPN analyst and UConn great Rebecca Lobo said, "because she played really well last year alongside great talent when she wasn't necessarily asked to be the No. 1. She was the No. 1 her whole time at DePaul, and then she gets to LSU and fit in really well."
Morrow said at SEC media day that she's eyeing the LSU program single-season steals record of 107. Last year, she fell just 14 shy of that mark. A push to break that record this season would not only help LSU's defensive numbers, but also show league scouts that Morrow can play on the perimeter, something the 6-foot-1 forward expects to be asked to do at the next level.
"I can't be out on the wing if I can't defend the wing," Morrow said. "So, if I can't guard the three or four or the point guard, then there's no way that I would be able to play. And that's something that I've been working on."
Morrow could also take more 3-pointers. In her freshman season at DePaul, she attempted 1.8 shots per game from beyond the arc. Then, in her sophomore year, her 3-point tries shot up to 6.3 per game even though she converted only 25%. Last season, her 3-point attempts fell back down to 1.6 per game.
Could those numbers -- in both attempts and efficiency -- see another increase?
It's just one of several new challenges facing Morrow ahead of her final season of eligibility.
"I know it might seem simple," Morrow said, "but when we're disciplined and having fun, I feel like we're at our best, and that's what I want to see from my teammates this year."