Alexis Morris is now a free agent.

One month after being picked the No. 22 overall in this year’s WNBA Draft, the women’s basketball star astounded fans with the news that she had been waived by the Connecticut Sun, who used a second-round pick to select her just last month.

“Welp I just got waived,” Morris tweeted after the game ended. “Thank you Sun nation.”

This comes on the heels of a team that had even hyped up Morris’ WNBA debut during pregame warm-ups. Not even the success of the LSU Tigers 2023 women’s basketball team, or the notoriety that Morris garnered from that win, helped her chances at sticking with the team that drafted her.

The news was announced roughly three hours after the former Tiger played in the Sun’s preseason game on Wednesday against the New York Liberty at Mohegan Sun, which the Sun won, 63-57. The rookies saw limited minutes in their only appearance with the Connecticut Sun.

Yet, in eight minutes of action against New York, the electric point guard flashed defensive skills and recorded two points on free throws, grabbed three rebounds and went 0-for-2 in field goals. Nonetheless, Morris, Ashten Prechtel of Stanford and Diamond Battles were all released following Wednesday’s game.

She isn’t the only rookie across the league feeling the roster crunch: Morris’s teammate, LaDazhia Williams, was also cut by the Indiana Fever this week. The Fever drafted Williams as 17th overall in April’s draft.

Morris rose to prominence fresh off a career year in Baton Rouge that saw the Tigers propelled to their first national championship victory this past season. It continues a basketball journey that has taken the Texas native all over.

The former five-star recruit of the Class of 2017 committed to Baylor out of high school but was dismissed from the team. From Baylor to Rutgers, Rutgers to Texas A&M and Texas A&M to LSU, Morris finished her career in Baton Rouge under Coach Kim Mulkey. It ended up being a historic decision for both sides.

According to WAFB, Morris started 59 games in her two years at LSU, while averaging 15.2 points per game on 44% shooting from the floor and was 80-for-244 from behind the arc. 

As reported on OutKick, not only did she drop 21 points in the national championship win over Iowa, her 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists led to First-Team All-SEC honors. The star guard’s excellence put her in the WNBA.

Per the Hartford Courant, Connecticut Sun general manager Darius Taylor said on draft night, “We’re very excited to get a first-round talent in the second round. We look forward to having Alexis come to camp and show us why she’s a champion.”

However, her short stint as a drafted pick has ended with her entering free agency. Still, Morris told Sports Illustrated she never imagined hearing her name called during the WNBA Draft.

“At one point when I left Rutgers, I wasn’t even going to play basketball anymore,” Morris said.

“So this moment is literally everything to me. I am the comeback kid. I went through so much adversity. The world counted me out. Media writing bad posts, portraying this image of me. Now I can just let it all go. I beat it. I beat the odds.”

The game on Wednesday was the first of two before the regular season begins on May 19. Rosters must be cut down to 12 players by May 18.

With just 144 spots in the 12-team league, being waived is an unfortunate but real possibility for WNBA draftees. As of Wednesday, almost every team still has cuts left to make to fit under the 12-player maximum. In fact, 16 players suited up for the Sun during Wednesday’s preseason game.

As she heads to the waiver wire, Morris told her supporters not to feel bad for her.

“Don’t call me or text me on no sad behavior, it’s up!!!!” she wrote.

“It’s too much cheese and opportunities out here to be sad. I’m the COMEBACK KID! I will be back.”

Following her release by the Sun, it’s a waiting game for Morris, who will have to gauge the interest of the remaining 11 teams in the WNBA. It will be interesting to see where she ends up next.

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