Sat, Jul 04 2009
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Published March 26, 2008 12:54 am - Holly Pond’s Mike Morris shaping character as Lady Bulldogs coach By Michael Cummings michaelc@cullmantimes.com When Holly Pond High’s boys basketball team reached consecutive Class 3A Final Fours under long-time coach Dewayne Adams in 1986 and ’87, at least one Bronco was watching and learning — gleaning life lessons and the kind of basketball know-how that goes into the making of a great coach.
“One of the main reasons I got into coaching is because of Dewayne Adams,” said Mike Morris, head coach of Samford University’s women’s basketball team. Morris, a native of Holly Pond, recently completed his sixth season with the Lady Bulldogs, finishing with a record of 23-9. Their 15-5 conference record was good for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morris’ team reached the conference’s semifinals before bowing out to eventual champion Murray State. “He was a tremendous influence on why I wanted to coach,” Morris said of Adams, who is now a member of the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame. “I was very close to him and I got to see how passionate he was about coaching.” Adams must have done something right, because earlier this month Morris signed a contract extension with Samford that will keep him coaching the Lady Bulldogs for the next 10 years. But Morris wasn’t the only Bronco deeply influenced by Adams. And in fact, he wasn’t even the only member of his family to have such profound respect for the man. “As far as not just being a coach, but also being a good friend, he was willing to help in anything,” said Mike’s brother Mitch, who now has Adams’ old job as boys basketball coach at Holly Pond. “He was a tremendous influence on me as a basketball player and as a friend.” Mitch, the elder Morris, said Adams made it a priority to shape the character of young men. “At times he could be hard to understand or appreciate, but he fought for us,” he said. “He really wanted his players to act a certain way, and he instilled good morals in us.” After the younger Morris graduated from Holly Pond High in 1987, he went on to play at Jefferson State and UAH, where he shot 92.1 percent from the free throw line — the best in NCAA Division II. In 1992, Morris took an assistant coaching position at Belhaven College under Lennie Acuff, the man who recruited him out of junior college. Morris followed Acuff to Berry College in Rome, Georgia, where the Vikings posted back-to-back 20 win seasons. While at Berry, Morris’ team came up against a coach that would take him to Birmingham, a city he hasn’t left since. “When I was at Berry College, we played Samford and coach (John) Brady was coaching,” Morris said of Brady, the former Samford and LSU men’s basketball coach. “He offered me a (coaching) spot on the men’s team, and I was a men’s assistant for 8 years.” After eight years on the sidelines, Samford hired Morris as head coach of a women’s team that had won just three games the year before. With Morris on board, the Lady Bulldogs gradually started winning, grabbing 21 victories in Morris’ fourth year. With 41 wins over the last two seasons, Morris has now compiled a 91-80 overall record. 
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