Kaleb Morrow came to Apex (NC) High School for basketball but wound up becoming a major college football player.
Morrow, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end, became part of East Carolina’s football recruiting Class of 2025 on June 16 after giving the Pirates a verbal commitment. He selected ECU over Appalachian State, but also entertained scholarship offers from Bryant, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Elon, Marshall, Middle Tennessee State, Temple, Towson and Wofford.
The decision ended an unusual path to college football for Morrow.
The basketball court is where Morrow spent most of his time as a middle schooler while living in nearby Durham where his mother works at Duke University. He was building a reputation playing in the AAU ranks and was even being mentored by former Xavier University player Kevin Frey. So, when Frey was named boys’ basketball coach at Apex in May 2021, Morrow decided to join him.
John Mozerka arrived from California in December of that year to become the head football coach at Apex. Morrow was coming off a freshman season with the varsity football team and was in the midst of a year with the Apex junior varsity basketball squad.
“Of course, he’s this 6-6, 6-7 kid with length and he’s just kind of this basketball kid,” Mozerka said. “But all of a sudden he started playing football. He had played youth football, but he really wasn’t focused at all on football. But he came in as a freshman and just fell in love with football. The next thing you know he’s telling me he wants to play college football.”
Morrow had been used primarily at linebacker/defensive end as a freshman. But Mozerka hatched a different plan for Morrow soon after becoming head coach.
“I had just gotten here to Apex, and so I said, ‘Let’s try to make him a tight end,”’ Mozerka said. “It was something new to him. He had never put his hand down in a three-point stance in his life. So, his sophomore year was kind of a learning experience to what it takes to even be a tight end.”
Morrow caught eight passes for 85 yards and four touchdowns during that apprentice sophomore season before establishing himself as one of North Carolina’s best prep tight ends as a junior. He made 30 catches for 382 yards and two touchdowns, including a season-best six receptions for 107 yards against Holly Springs. The performance earned Morrow first-team All-Southeast Wake Athletic Conference honors.
East Carolina began its pursuit of Morrow early during his junior season. The Pirates had him on campus multiple times, including a Junior Day event in January and unofficial visits in March and April. The ECU staff also attended Apex games and dropped by the school often to check on Morrow.
Those efforts eventually proved pivotal when Morrow finally narrowed his choices to Appalachian State and ECU, according to Mozerka.
“They (ECU coaches) made sure they were on this campus watching games, even though it was like unofficial visits from the school coming here,” he said. “So, I think he (Morrow) felt comfortable in that they showed tons of interest. It wasn’t them just showing up one time and getting an offer and telling him when an official visit was coming in June. It was them always, constantly checking in with him and checking in with me to make sure everything is good with him. So, by the time the official visit came I think he had his mind made up and so did the family.”
Mozerka has watched Morrow develop from a lean, basketball player into a major college prospect. He compares that progress to a player who he crossed paths with while coaching in California, former Atlanta Falcons tight end Levine Toilolo.
Toilolo played at Helix High in La Mesa, CA, before moving on to Stanford. He was a fourth-round draft pick by the Falcons where he spent five seasons before moving to stints with the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants.
“He (Toilolo) was a big basketball player that started to develop his blocking skills,” Mozerka said. “Not a ton of Power Five schools offered him. But he blossomed in his career at Stanford and then in the NFL. Kaleb reminds me of him. He has a great future and is just scratching the surface of his talent.”
While his pass catching skills have gotten him the most notice, Morrow has become a dominant blocker at tight end.
“His best attribute right now — and it wasn’t last year — is the point of attack blocking. He is very physical. He’s done a great job in the weight room in the offseason and showing us on the field at the point of attack being very aggressive finishing blocks. He’s really mastering that now.”
Mozerka said Morrow is on schedule to graduate in December from Apex and should be ready to join the Pirates in January 2025.
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