Quick Facts
Biography
Dwane Morrison is a retired American college basketball player and coach. He is best known as the coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1973 to 1981. He is also the son of former Major League pitcher Johnny "Jughandle" Morrison.
College
Morrison, a 6'3 guard from Owensboro, Kentucky, played basketball for two years at Campbellsville Junior College (now Campbellsville University) 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.
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 coach Frank McGuire, ending Morrison's tenure as head coach of the Gamecocks.
Georgia Tech
Morrison landed at Georgia Tech 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. 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, back to independent status and finally led their transition to the Atlantic Coast Conference. 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.
Collegiate coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1963–1964) | |||||||||
| 1964 | South Carolina | 4–8 | 4–6 | 4th | |||||
| South Carolina: | 4–8 (.333) | 4–6 (.400) | |||||||
| Mercer (Independent) (1970–1973) | |||||||||
| 1970–71 | Mercer | 14–9 | |||||||
| 1971–72 | Mercer | 19–7 | NCAA Men's Division II Regional Semifinal | ||||||
| 1972–73 | Mercer | 15–6 | |||||||
| Mercer: | 48–22 (.686) | ||||||||
| Georgia Tech (Independent) (1973–1975) | |||||||||
| 1973–74 | Georgia Tech | 5–21 | |||||||
| 1974–75 | Georgia Tech | 11–15 | |||||||
| Georgia Tech: | 16–36 (.308) | ||||||||
| Georgia Tech (Metro Conference) (1975–1978) | |||||||||
| 1975–76 | Georgia Tech | 13–14 | 0–1 | 5th | |||||
| 1976–77 | Georgia Tech | 18–10 | 3–3 | T-3rd | |||||
| 1977–78 | Georgia Tech | 15–12 | 6–6 | T-4th | |||||
| Georgia Tech: | 46–36 (.561) | 9–10 (.474) | |||||||
| Georgia Tech (Independent) (1978–1979) | |||||||||
| 1978–79 | Georgia Tech | 17–9 | |||||||
| Georgia Tech: | 17–9 (.654) | ||||||||
| Georgia Tech (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1979–1981) | |||||||||
| 1979–80 | Georgia Tech | 8–18 | 1–13 | 8th | |||||
| 1980–81 | Georgia Tech | 4–23 | 0–14 | 8th | |||||
| Georgia Tech: | 12–41 (.226) | 1–27 (.036) | |||||||
| Georgia Tech (total): | 91–122 (.427) | 10–37 (.213) | |||||||
| Total: | 143–152 (.485) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||