Princeton University Athletics
Morris Named Interim Head Women's Basketball Coach
August 16, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 16, 2000
PRINCETON, N.J. - Kevin Morris has been named interim head coach of the Princeton University womens basketball team as of today. Morris replaces Liz Feeley, who left Princeton after five years of service to become head coach at Smith College, a Division III institution in Massachusetts.
"This is a great opportunity," says Morris of his new position. "Princeton is one of the best schools in the country both academically and athletically."
Morris takes over a team that finished 9-19 (6-8 Ivy League) in the 1999-2000 campaign under Feeley and will also deal with the loss of All-Ivy League players Maggie Langlas and Kate Thirolf as well as starting center Brooke Lockwood. His first major task is to take his team to Europe Aug. 27. "College teams change quickly," stated Morris. "One year is not necessarily indicative of what is to follow in the coming years. We intend to have the best year we can possibly have through the hard work and effort of the personnel we have on the team."
For the last seven years Morris has served as head women's basketball coach at Fordham, and he was an assistant for two years prior to that. He led his team to the Patriot League regular season and tournament championships and a first-ever bid to the NCAA tournament in 1994. That same year Morris was named Coach of the Year by the Patriot League and the New York State Coaches Association, as well as Fordham University.
"Kevin Morris brings a sense of stability to Princeton women's basketball at a time when it is greatly needed," says Jim Fiore, Associate Director of Athletics for Intercollegiate Programming. "He is well equipped and has a strong background at Fordham, which is a high profile academic and athletic institution, making him the logical fit. Kevin's goals will be to provide a positive, meaningful athletic and academic experience that starts with the European trip and ends with the last regular season game against Penn."
In his years as an assistant at Fordham, Morris helped to completely revitalize a program that had not had a winning season in 11 years. The Lady Rams posted a 37-21 record in those two seasons and advanced to two championship games, capturing the 1992 Patriot League title.
Morris assisted at Ivy League member Harvard from 1987-1990 before making his way to Fordham as an assistant in 1991, and assisted at Division III Scranton for two years after his graduation from there in 1986, where he was a member of the basketball and tennis teams. He earned a bachelor of science degree from Scranton in school management and was a graduate of James Caldwell High School in nearby Caldwell, N.J.
The University will partake in an extensive national search throughout the season for the fulltime position and the administration hopes to commence its search by the end of the year.
"We are confident he will have the team prepared to compete at this level day in and day out," Fiore says. "We are also pleased to have Becky Timmins back as first assistant. She will serve as a bridge for the team and administration, providing a sense of continuity."