Gentle Giant

He’s a quiet leader, a committed family man and a dedicated student athlete.

Despite standing 6-foot-5-inches tall and weighing 240 pounds, senior right fielder Ben Morgan of the Rattler baseball team is probably the nicest and most polite big man on campus.

“Ben is a big ol’ gentle giant. I mean he’s a good person and a good student. You can really tell when a kid is raised right,” said head coach Joe Durant.

Morgan brings power, speed and defense to the Rattlers starting line-up everyday. After the first five games of the season, Morgan is batting .318, with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 RBIs, and a .545 slugging percentage.

“He is a good outfielder, gets to the ball well, and has a good arm,” said junior pitcher Mike Sills. “He makes good contact and hits for average, he is just a pretty solid all around player.”

Morgan brings an authentic type of leadership to the baseball diamond.

“I guess there’s different types of leaders. I mean, I guess like I set an example for people. I like to joke around as well, I’m not too serious, but I get my work done. I’m not the vocal leader like telling people what to do. But when somebody is doing something wrong I’ll stop and help,” Morgan said.

When asked what makes him what he is today, Morgan said, “I think moving from place to place, I mean I’ve been to a bunch of different schools while I was in high school. Just moving from a different province to Canada. I think that has made me adapt to different situations easier.”

A journeyman, Morgan is a business administration transfer student, who was born in Newcastle Upon-Tyne, England. He moved to Canada during his childhood, and lived in New York while he attended high school.

Morgan transferred to FAMU last year from Bishop State Community College in Daphne, Ala.

“I lucked up and got him,” Durant said.

“He came over from Bishop State and just fit right on in with the program.”

At FAMU, Morgan is devoted to hitting the pitches thrown by his teachers, as well. He has maintained a grade point average of 3.1, while having to deal with the rigors of being a student athlete.

As well as being a dedicated student-athlete, he is a committed family man. Morgan has a girlfriend, Dominique, and a son, Tristan Skipper, who add to his hefty list of responsibilities.

“Off the field he is always thinking about his family first, he’s really a family guy, and he really cares about how his family does, that’s what’s most important to him. Its always hard being a student athlete because you are out of town every other weekend. So it is hard, but I think he does a pretty good job with it,” said junior second baseman and teammate Nicholas Parker.

Morgan’s biggest influences on and off the field have been his parents, Cyril and Pauline Morgan, who provided him with guidance throughout his life. They allowed him to play other sports such as basketball and hockey during his childhood, letting him determine his athletic path.

“I guess my parents have had the most influence on me. I know like a lot of kids who have their parents who push them into playing baseball,” Morgan said. “They (my parents) never really put any pressure on me to really succeed. I guess they were always there to help me.”

Travon McCall can be reached at young85138@aol.com.