Adrian College

Kathy Morris begins her 31st season as head coach of the Adrian College women’s basketball team in 2022-23.

She is the all-time victories leader in program history (323), passing Nancy Walsh on Dec. 8, 2012 with a 73-62 win over Kalamazoo. Morris is also the longest-tenured women’s basketball coach in school history.

Morris, who has compiled a school and career record of 323-442, picked up her milestone 300th victory on Feb. 12, 2020, with an 81-68 win at Olivet in a conference game. 

Morris has guided the Bulldogs to four seasons of 15 wins or more (1992, 1997, 1999, 2002) and five appearances in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. She also has posted six winning seasons and has seven double-digit win seasons since 2008. The Bulldogs have also finished in the top four of the MIAA nine times. The 2013-14 squad posted a 9-7 record in the MIAA which was the first winning season in conference play since the 2001-02 season.

In 2018-19, Adrian was the top MIAA representative in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 rankings, compiling a 3.591 collective grade-point average for 14th among all NCAA Division III programs. That marked the fourth time in program history that Adrian has been recognized for this award, establishing team records for ranking (14th) and GPA (3.591). Morris coached daughter, Ashley, to the All-MIAA Second Team and Sha'Trice Graves to breaking school records for blocked shots in a game (8) and season (74) in only her sophomore year.

Graves added 59 blocks in 2019-20 to give her 163 for her career, breaking a school record that has stood for 19 years. After just 70 career games, she ranks 12th with 2.33 blocks per game and T-23rd with 163 total on the NCAA Division III ACTIVE all-time listings.

One of Morris’ most successful campaigns came in 2001-02, when the Bulldogs finished third in the conference (9-5) with a 17-10 overall record. In the 2002 MIAA Tournament, Adrian defeated Saint Mary’s in the opening round before falling to Kalamazoo in the semifinals. Morris coached a first-team All MIAA pick (RaSheida Edwards), a second-team MIAA player (Sarah Vincke) and two honorable mentions (Lisa Butts, Annie Morton).

In all, Morris has coached 12 All-MIAA First Team standouts in her tenure, including two MIAA scoring champions in Tricia Clark (1997) and Ann Terpstra (1998). She has also coached four 1,000-point scorers (Vincke, Terpstra, Renae Huyck, Anita Stamps). Vincke is second on Adrian’s career points list with 1,486. During the 2015-16 campaign, guard Antoinea McElroy joined that all-conference list as a senior, becoming the first Bulldog ever to be selected for the D3hoops.com/Scoutware Team of the Week.

Morris is a member of the WBCA and the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM). She was on the NCAA Regional Rankings Committee from 2000-03.

Before coming to Adrian, Morris served as an assistant basketball coach and head soccer coach at her alma mater, Muskingum College, from 1989-92. In 1991, Muskingum advanced to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship title game before falling to St. Thomas (Minn.). The following season, the Muskies advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.

A 1989 graduate of Muskingum, Morris played four seasons on the women’s basketball team, serving as a captain during her junior and senior years. During her senior season, the Muskies finished 29-2 and were the first team in Ohio Athletic Conference history to go through the regular season and conference tournament undefeated.

Muskingum advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Elizabethtown (Pa.). Morris graduated third on Muskingum’s all-time scoring list with 1,560 points. She was inducted into the Muskingum College Hall of Fame in October 2000.

She also was inducted to the Hancock County (Findlay, Ohio) Sports Hall of Fame in April 2017, a member of the same class as Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Vanlue High School Athletic Hall of Fame honoree graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,492 points before playing collegiately at Muskingum.

Morris earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, physical education and secondary education. She also received a Master of Science degree in physical education, health and sports science at Ohio University in 1992.

She lives in Adrian with her husband Charlie and three daughters, Ashley, Lindsey and Abigail.

Coach Morris' Career Record at Adrian