Dwane Morrison is a retired American
college basketball
College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
player and coach. He is best known as the coach of the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...
from 1973 to 1981. He is also the son of former
Major League pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
Johnny "Jughandle" Morrison.
College
Morrison, a 6'3
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison gu ...
from
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...
, played basketball for two years at Campbellsville Junior College (now
Campbellsville University
Campbellsville University (CU) is a private Christian university in Campbellsville, Kentucky. It was founded as Russell Creek Academy and enrolls more than 12,000 students. The university offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees.
In ...
) before transferring to the University of South Carolina. In his senior year of
1951–52, Morrison led the Gamecocks with a 19.8 scoring average and was selected second team All-
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...
.
Coach
South Carolina
After his playing days ended, Morrison turned to coaching. After coaching high school basketball for several years, he landed at his alma mater, South Carolina, as freshman coach and assistant to head coach
Chuck Noe in 1963. His college coaching career accelerated when Noe resigned due to exhaustion midway through the season. Morrison was named interim head coach for the last 12 games of the season, leading the Gamecocks to a 4–8 record down the stretch. After the season, South Carolina hired future
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
coach
Frank McGuire
Frank Joseph McGuire (November 8, 1913 – October 11, 1994) was an American basketball coach. At the collegiate level, he was head coach for three major programs: St. John's, North Carolina, and South Carolina, winning over a hundred games at ...
, ending Morrison's tenure as head coach of the Gamecocks.
Georgia Tech
Morrison landed at
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...
as an assistant to
John "Whack" Hyder. He spent 6 years with the Yellow Jackets before getting his next shot as a head coach at
Mercer University
Mercer University is a Private university, private Research university, research university in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the s ...
. After a successful three-year stint at Mercer (48–22), Morrison had the opportunity to succeed his former mentor Hyder as head coach at Georgia Tech. Morrison led the Yellow Jackets for eight years from 1973 to 1981, a period which saw the school move from Independent status to the new
Metro Conference
The Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all in urban metropolitan areas, though its later members di ...
, back to independent status and finally led their transition to the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
. Unfortunately, Morrison's two years in the ACC were not successful, as his teams went 1–27 in league play over the two-year span. The bottom fell out in 1980–81, when Morrison's Jackets tallied the worst record in school history at 4–23, including a winless record in ACC play. Morrison was fired and replaced by
Bobby Cremins. His overall record at Georgia Tech was 91–122.
2010-11 Georgia Tech men's basketball media guide
, page 119
Head coaching record
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Dwane
Date of birth unknown
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from Kentucky
Basketball players from Kentucky
Campbellsville Tigers men's basketball players
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches
High school basketball coaches in the United States
Junior college men's basketball players in the United States
Mercer Bears men's basketball coaches
Sportspeople from Owensboro, Kentucky
South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball coaches
South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball players
Guards (basketball)