Rather than be a bench player on an NBA roster, Matt Morgan opted to become a benchmark for today's hybrid athlete on the pro wrestling/sports entertainment scene.

Dubbed appropriately The Blue Print in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Morgan is a well-defined 7-0, 375-pounder who can wrestle and talk. Not to be outdone, he also boasts a very impressive 40-inch vertical leap -- unheard of, for someone his size -- and he has plenty of charisma.

Morgan, 32, a standout high school and collegiate basketball player, is a jacked powerhouse who can leap like NBA star Vince Carter -- almost.

Morgan graduated in 1995 from Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Conn. A pre-season high school All-American in basketball, he stood tall among excellent hoops company.

''I got a nomination to play in the McDonald's All-American game, which I didn't get chosen to play in,'' he said, ``but I got nominated which was a huge honor. They give it to the Top 100 high school players in the country. Stephon Marbury, Vince Carter and Kevin Garnett were the main players. It was a great class. It was a really tough class. To be mentioned in their breathe was pretty cool.''

Morgan did attend the 5-Star and Nike basketball camps featuring those elite high school ballers.

''Stephon Marbury was my point guard there, and he helped me get a lot better -- playing with great talent like that,'' Morgan said. ``In Fairfield, there's only a handful of talent you're going to get better with, and I really, really sealed my fate as being a small forward because I could really jump high and shoot 3s. Being 6-foot-9, 6-10 when I was just a senior, it really did me a lot of justice going to an All-American camp so I could find how to play center or power forward, because my real skill set was a three.''

Like Dirk Nowitski.

``Exactly, accept I can jump.''

Is Marbury unfairly labeled by the public?

''It drives me nuts because I see the media eat him up, and a lot of it is deserved because he opens his mouth too many times,'' Morgan said. 'At first I was like, `Ah, they're painting this poor kid the wrong way. He's a good kid,' but even at camp he had like these tantrums.

``Dante Calabria, who played for North Carolina, was our camp counselor, and Christian Laettner [Duke/NBA] was the head coach of our camp team. Stephon's our point guard, and we're going through drills, and everybody -- college and NBA scouts -- are checking him out and checking out the rest of our team. We had a few good players who went on to play [Division I college ball].

``Christian Laettner is working on chest passes with us, and Stephon whizzes the ball 100 miles per hour like a fast ball. He was so jacked up with big muscles for a high school kid. Christian wasn't paying attention, and Stephon gave a little tug, tug, wink, wink, watch this, and as Christian wasn't looking, Stephon chest passed it at his face, and Christian Laettner's nose broke, started bleeding.''

Special treatment.

''Stephon Marbury, because he was the top guy at the camp at the time, they didn't kick him out or nothing,'' Morgan said. ``He was still the top dog there, but I remember Christian Laettner wanted to kill him. Kill him. Off the court, Stephon was a great kid. I liked him. Actually, he was my roommate. I thought he was a really cool kid.

``At first, I thought with the Timberwolves and then leaving the Timberwolves, he started to get a little arrogant. Then when he came to New York, I was like it's not going to be good. Being home is not going to be good for him. He has so much pressure on him.

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