J. D. Morgan (March 3, 1919 – December 16, 1980) was an American

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, coach and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

. He was associated with athletics at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

for more than 40 years. He played four years of varsity tennis at UCLA from 1938-1941 and served as the school's head tennis coach from 1949-1966, leading the Bruins to eight

NCAA Men's Tennis Championship The NCAA Men's Tennis Championships are annual tournaments held in the spring to crown team, singles, and doubles champions in American college tennis. The first intercollegiate championship was held in 1883, 23 years before the founding of the NCA ...

s. He also served as UCLA's athletic director from 1963-1979, a period during which the university won 30 NCAA championships, including ten

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

Biography

Morgan was born in

Newcastle, Oklahoma Newcastle is a city in McClain County, Oklahoma, United States, and part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 10,984. History Newcastle became a dot on the map with the opening of a new post offi ...

, and played football, basketball, tennis and baseball at Cordell High School in

Cordell, Oklahoma New Cordell is a city in, and county seat of, Washita County, Oklahoma, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 183. The population was 2,915 at the 2010 census. The community was previously established a few miles from the current site, but was ...

. Morgan began his lifelong association with UCLA as a student in the late 1930s. He was a four-year letterman on UCLA's tennis team, and was team captain in 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Morgan served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and was the commander of a

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...

in the

Pacific Theatre of Operations The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. In 1946, Morgan returned to UCLA as assistant tennis coach under William C. Ackerman. He took over as the head tennis coach in 1949, a position he held until 1966. UCLA won eight

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

team championships while Morgan was the men's tennis coach—1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1961, and 1965. Morgan's championship teams at UCLA included individual champions, including

Edith Sigourney Edith Sigourney (May 15, 1895 – December 2, 1982) was an American tennis player during the 1920s. Biography Edith Sigourney was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1895. She and her five siblings grew up at the family's home on Beacon Street. Sh ...

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...

, and

Charles Pasarell Charles Manuel Pasarell Jr. (born February 12, 1944) is a Puerto Rican former tennis player, tennis administrator and founder of the current Indian Wells tournament. He has also commented for the Tennis Channel and with Arthur Ashe and Sheridan ...

, and outstanding players such as Mike Franks, Mike Green,

Allen Fox Allen E. Fox (born June 25, 1939) is an American former tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s who went on to be a college coach and author. He was ranked as high as U.S. No. 4 in 1962, and was in the top ten in the U.S. five times between 1961 ...

, and

Larry Nagler Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence (given name), Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American arti ...

. He was named to the

ITA Ita or ITA may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * ITA, ISO 3166-1 country code for Italy * Ita (Africa), an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Mauretania, presently a Latin Catholic titular see * Itá, Paraguay People * Ita (prin ...

Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1963, Morgan was given the additional responsibility as UCLA's athletic director. He stepped down as tennis coach in 1966, but continued to serve as UCLA's athletic director until 1979. During Morgan's 16 years as UCLA's athletic director, he is credited with "revitaliz ngthe sports program, catapult ngBruin teams into the national spotlight, and ultimately redefin ngUCLA athletics as a model looked to by universities across the country." During his tenure as athletic director, UCLA won 30 NCAA championships—ten in basketball, seven in volleyball, six in tennis, four in track and field, and three in water polo. Morgan hired

Tommy Prothro James Thompson "Tommy" Prothro Jr. (July 20, 1920 – May 14, 1995) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1965 to 1970, compili ...

as football coach, and the Bruins football teams went to four bowl games, including two

Rose Bowls The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

, during Morgan's tenure as athletic director. Morgan also oversaw the completion of

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The men ...

and the construction of

Drake Stadium Drake Stadium may refer to: * Drake Stadium (1904), a defunct outdoor multiuse sports field at Drake University used from 1904 to 1925 * Drake Stadium (Drake University), an outdoor multiuse sports field at Drake University used from 1925 to present ...

, Spaulding Field and a boathouse for crew in

Marina del Rey Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The p ...

. Morgan was known for his competitive nature and a personality that some described as "difficult, even arrogant." In his early years as UCLA's athletic director, he sat on the bench with

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...

during basketball games and was known to vilify officials from the bench. Morgan's outbursts reportedly resulted in a rule change banning athletic directors from sitting on the bench during basketball games. In 1979, Morgan retired due to poor health. He died the following year at age 61. In 1983, the J. D. Morgan Center at UCLA was dedicated. It houses the university's athletic department, including both administrative and coaching staff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, J. D. 1980 deaths 1919 births American tennis coaches UCLA Bruins athletic directors UCLA Bruins men's tennis players People from McClain County, Oklahoma Military personnel from Oklahoma Tennis people from Oklahoma UCLA Bruins men's tennis coaches Sports coaches from Oklahoma American male tennis players