Javier Morton
Nebraska Athletics via Twitter
Morton had over 30 offers as a high school recruit in the 2020 class including Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Cal, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and others.
Rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 266 player overall by ESPN, at one point Morton was one of the country’s most sought-after defensive backs coming out of Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Morton originally committed to Alabama in December 2017 as the first member of their 2020 class. He continued to see his stock rise over the next two years as he routinely stood out during 7-v-7 tournaments and on the camp circuit.
In August 2019, Javier and Alabama had a mutual parting of ways. As he moved forward with his recruitment, Javier focused on LSU, Miami, South Carolina, Auburn and Georgia Tech. In the end, however, Morton didn’t sign with an FBS school in February 2020 because of academic concerns. He didn’t play anywhere in 2020 because of the pandemic, and ultimately decided to take online classes in order to get qualified. After a semester working with The USA Academy based in Alabama, Morton reclassified to the 2021 class. After a brief stint at Fort Scott Community College, Morton ended up enrolling at Garden City Community College in July 2021.
Last fall at Garden City, Morton played in nine games as a part-time starter and finished with 20 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and two pass breakups. He helped the Broncbusters to an 8-3 record and No. 9 finish in the national rankings. Morton was getting attention from smaller schools as his recruitment slowly picked up steam throughout the season. The Huskers contacted him right around New Year’s.
Morton had just returned from visiting UTEP when Travis Fisher reached out and asked if he’d be willing to take an official visit to Lincoln. Luckily, Fisher had a prior relationship with Javier. He had begun recruiting him when Javier was in the 10th grade and offered him a Husker scholarship on Jan. 23, 2018, less than two months after he’d followed Frost to Lincoln.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Morton was in town with his parents Jan. 14-16. His host was fellow Georgia native Quinton Newsome, who he had already been acquainted with. The pair also hung out with another Georgian, Myles Farmer, who Morton already knew as well. Fisher spent a lot of time showing Javier film of the defensive backs he’s worked with in the past. In particular, Fisher made sure to show Morton plenty of Mike Hughes clips. Hughes, who was a first-round pick of the Vikings in 2018, played for Fisher at UCF after transferring from Garden City.
Nebraska extended an offer to Morton on Jan. 17, the day after he completed his official visit. Morton announced his commitment the following day and signed with the Huskers. A week later, he was enrolling in classes. Like Singleton, Javier Morton will have three seasons of eligibility remaining and an available redshirt if needed.
Morton played both corner and safety in high school but was mainly looked at as a safety prospect coming out of Stephenson. He’s been told by Fisher that he is being recruited primarily to play boundary cornerback for the Huskers. Morton ran track in high school, participating in the 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump and triple jump. He has the length and athleticism Fisher likes in his corners. Morton is ranked the No. 5 junior college cornerback and No. 18 overall player by Rivals, the No. 9 cornerback and No. 39 player overall by ESPN, while 247Sports ranks him the No. 6 junior college safety and the No. 44 overall player.
Morton will jump into the fray this spring, but with the addition of cornerbacks Omar Brown and Tommi Hill from the transfer portal, his immediate path to the two-deep seems more difficult than Singleton’s. With multiple seasons available, he might spend his first season as a special teams fixture before making noise on defense.
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