Danny Morseu

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Danny Morseu

| image =

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| position = Forward

| height_cm = 198

| weight =

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| nationality = Australian

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1958|1|1}}

| birth_place = Thursday Island, Queensland

| high_school =

| college =

| draft_year =

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| career_start = 1979

| career_end = 1989

| years1 = 1979–1983

| team1 = St. Kilda Saints

| years2 = 1984–1985

| team2 = Geelong Supercats

| years3 = 1986–1989

| team3 = Brisbane Bullets

| highlights =

3× NBL champion (1979, 1980, 1987)
2× All-NBL Team (1980, 1981)
NBL Hall of Fame (2002)
Victoria University Sport Hall of Fame (2007)

}}

Danny Morseu (born 1 January 1958) is an Australian basketball player who played on the Australian national basketball team in the 1980 Summer Olympics and 1984 Summer Olympics.

International career

Morseu played for the Australian team at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, where Australia finished eighth, and at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where Australia finished seventh, their best Olympic result to that date.{{cite web|url=http://www.basketball.net.au/fs_extra.asp?id=665&OrgID=1 |title=Boomers Olympic History |website=www.basketball.net.au |access-date=2008-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725022138/http://www.basketball.net.au/fs_extra.asp?id=665&OrgID=1 |archive-date=25 July 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }} The Australian team has since finished fourth on two occasions; Seoul in 1988 and Sydney in 2000

He also played twelve world cup matches for Australia.

Club career

A Torres Strait Islander, Morseu was born in 1958 on Thursday Island in Far North Queensland.{{cite web|url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/static/coll_2204Danny+Morseu.php |title=Danny Morseu |publisher=National Portrait Gallery |access-date=2008-06-27 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080727111329/http://www.portrait.gov.au/static/coll_2204Danny+Morseu.php |archive-date=27 July 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }} He spent his childhood in Tamwoy, a mission on Thursday Island, where he grew up without running water or electricity.{{cite web|last = Davis|first = Sam|url = http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/06/26/2287195.htm|title = Sharing experience: Danny Morseu's life in short|publisher = ABC Far North|access-date = 2008-06-27}} He started playing basketball at school and despite being cut from his primary school team, he developed into a tall talented teenage athlete. After completing school he moved to Cairns where he played basketball and rugby league for local teams.

Morseu attracted the attention of National Basketball League coach Brian Kerle after playing a match against Kerle's club, the Melbourne-based St Kilda Saints – on tour of North Queensland. Kerle convinced Morseu to move to Melbourne in 1978, where he played in St Kilda's championship winning teams of 1979 and 1980.{{cite web|url=http://www.vu.edu.au/Current_Students/Campus_Life/Sport/Danny_Morseu_inducted_into_Sport_Hall_of_Fame/indexdl_89858.aspx |title=Danny Morseu inducted into VU Sporting Hall of Fame |publisher=Victoria University, Australia |access-date=2008-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419010327/http://www.vu.edu.au/Current_Students/Campus_Life/Sport/Danny_Morseu_inducted_into_Sport_Hall_of_Fame/indexdl_89858.aspx |archive-date=19 April 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }} He played 217 NBL games in total, winning another NBL championship with the Brisbane Bullets in 1987.

In December 2017, Morseu was appointed head coach of the Toowoomba Mountaineers QBL men's side, the team he won a championship with in 1991.[https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/toowoomba-mountaineers-welcome-new-coach/3293468/ Toowoomba Mountaineers welcome new coach]

Later biography

In 1984, he completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in recreation from Footscray Institute of Technology. He was employed in a range of activities for state and federal governments in Victoria and Queensland, including working in indigenous health. He has acted as a mentor for other indigenous basketball players such as Nathan Jawai and Patty Mills.

In May 2024, a jury found Morseu guilty of one count of bodily harm after punching a woman in the head eight times.{{cite news |last=Byrne|first=Conor|date=16 May 2024|title=Former NBL player Danny Morseu found guilty on one count of bodily harm for punching woman |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-16/basketballer-danny-moreu-trial-assault-deprivation-liberty/103849786|work=ABC News|location= |access-date=18 May 2024}} He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended after four months. However, Morseu was found not guilty of charges relating to common assault and deprivation of liberty.

Awards

Inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame in 2002, Morseu was the first indigenous basketballer so honoured.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=hall-of-fame |title=NBL Hall of Famers |publisher=National Basketball League (Australia) |access-date=2008-06-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015093418/http://nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=hall-of-fame |archive-date=15 October 2007 }}{{cite news|url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2003/04/16/833260.htm|archive-url = https://archive.today/20121231084037/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2003/04/16/833260.htm|url-status = dead|archive-date = 31 December 2012|title = Morseu joins NBL greats|publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date = 2003-04-16|access-date = 2008-06-29}} He was inducted into the Victoria University Sport Hall of Fame in 2007.

Personal

Morseu is the uncle of Australian Boomers players Patty Mills and Nathan Jawai.[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/news/indigenous-basketballer-shoots-for-top/story-e6frg6oo-1111116353848 Indigenous basketballer Nathan Jawai shoots for top]

References

External links

[http://www.foxsportspulse.com/team_info.cgi?action=PSTATS&pID=190395465&client=0-189-88233-125716-11145242 NBL stats]
[https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183576320602061 Danny Morseu: Our Sporting Greats Digital Story and Oral History], State Library of Queensland as a part of the [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/bumb4u/alma99183575719502061 Our Sporting Greats Digital Stories and Oral Histories: Murri and Ailan Athletes in the Spotlight Collection]

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Category:1958 births

Category:Living people

Category:Australian men's basketball coaches

Category:Australian men's basketball players

Category:1978 FIBA World Championship players

Category:Basketball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Category:Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Category:Brisbane Bullets players

Category:Forwards (basketball)

Category:Geelong Supercats players