In a somewhat surprising turn of fortune for the twins who became known as "the Morrii" in their three years in Lawrence, Markieff Morris, the less heralded of the two, has been selected to represent the Phoenix Suns in the 2012 Rookie Game while Marcus Morris, an All-American at Kansas, toils in the NBDL.
Despite averaging four fewer points a game as a junior, Markieff was taken one spot ahead of Marcus, who was chosen by the Houston Rockets, in the 2011 NBA Draft.
While he never had his brother's offensive polish, playing in Marcus' shadow for most of their lives, Markieff is bigger and stronger than his twin, allowing him to more easily slip into a position as a role player on the next level.
In 20 minutes of action a night for the Suns this year, Markieff is averaging 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Marcus, meanwhile, was unable to crack the rotation of a deep Houston team, and has been assigned to the Rockets NBDL affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, since the beginning of 2012.
In six D-League games, Marcus is averaging 19.7 points and 8.2 rebounds.
However, until the logjam at the 3/4 positions in Houston is cleared up, with a rookie (Chandler Parsons), two second-year players (Patrick Patterson and Jeff Adrien) and a third-year player (Chase Budinger) all ahead of him, there is little chance the former Kansas star will get significant action in the NBA.
Over the last two years, four other Jayhawks have made the leap to the next level: Sherron Collins, who is now playing in Europe, Cole Aldrich, a reserve center for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Xavier Henry, who was dealt to the New Orleans Hornets earlier in the year while recovering from an ankle injury and Josh Selby, currently the third-string point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies.