Jerone Morton grateful for 'full-circle story' as Kentucky Wildcat

Four years ago, Washington State transfer Jerone Morton led George Rogers Clark to the 2022 KHSAA Sweet 16 championship and earned tournament MVP honors along the way. Now, he’s returning to Rupp Arena as a Wildcat himself, coming home as a Lexington native.

He took the road less traveled, starting at Morehead State for two seasons before making the move to Wazzu for year three, before making his way back where he belongs in year four.

Morton joined The Alan Cutler Show with ESPN Lexington on Friday to talk about his full-circle moment, bringing him back to town as a Wildcat.

“It’s just a dream come true for me and (my dad) and my whole family, you know what I’m saying?” he told Cutler. “We’ve grown up in Lexington, now we’re playing at Kentucky. I’m happy, honestly. I’m very excited to be there. I know I’ve got a lot of work to do, so I’m just going to keep my head down and just keep grinding.”

He’s had his eye on this possibility since high school, growing up in the city and watching pros come through the winningest program in the sport’s history. Why wouldn’t you want to be a part of that one day? Somehow, some way, that day came this week when he put pen to paper with his hometown Kentucky Wildcats.

He went from cutting down the nets at the state championship to playing college basketball in that same building with all of his friends and family at Rupp Arena every game moving forward. You can’t write up a better script than that.

“Really, when I was a little kid, for real,” Morton said of his lifelong dream of playing at Kentucky. “I mean, Kentucky — you know how Kentucky is. Kentucky just had all kinds of good players that came there, so growing up watching that, obviously, I want to go there. All these great players went there and succeeded. It would be a dope dream if I could actually go there and play and help the team win.

“So, it would just be a cool story, you know what I’m saying? Full-circle story.”

That dream is now a reality — but it’s not finished. He knows he still has work to do once he gets to put the uniform on and do what he’s coming back home to do: contribute.

This isn’t just a feel-good story now that he’s got a locker, Morton wants to help his Wildcats win basketball games and return to those highs he witnessed as a kid.

“I’ve just gotten a lot stronger, a lot faster. My mind for the game has matured a lot than it was in high school. I can think the game a lot better than I did. Playing these past three years, I’ve learned a lot from both schools, going to Morehead for two years and then Wazzu for this past year. I feel like I’ve grown in all those areas. … Just getting in the gym, getting up a lot of shots.

“That’s really where my confidence comes from, me putting in the work every single day. Just staying consistent, putting in the work.”

You can listen to Morton’s full interview on The Alan Cutler Show below: