Mike Morrell (born August 22, 1982) is an American college basketball coach, and current head coach of the

UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball The UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents the University of North Carolina at Asheville in Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Loc ...

team.

Playing career

Morrell was a two-sport athlete at

Milligan College Milligan University is a private Christian university in Milligan College, Tennessee. Founded in 1866 as the Buffalo Male and Female Institute, and known as Milligan College from 1881 to May 2020, the school has a student population of more tha ...

playing both basketball and golf. He was a three-year starter and 1,000-point scorer in men's basketball and two-time all-league selection in golf. Morrell is still listed in the Milligan College men's basketball record books. As a freshman in 2000-01, he led the basketball team in free throw percentage (80.9%). During the 2002-03 season, he led the team in 3 pt field goals made (49) and free throw percentage (82.4%)

Coaching career

After graduation in 2005, Morrell landed his first coaching job at

King University King University is a private Presbyterian-affiliated university in Bristol, Tennessee. Founded in 1867, King is independently governed with covenant affiliations to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). H ...

for two seasons before joining

Oliver Purnell Oliver Gordon Purnell Jr. (born May 19, 1953) is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Radford University from 1988 to 1991, Old Dominion University from 1991 to 1994, the University of Dayto ...

's staff at Clemson as a graduate assistant and director of basketball operations from 2007 to 2010. After a one-year stop at

Charleston Southern Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

, Morrell joined Shaka Smart's staff at VCU, and was part of four Rams NCAA Tournament squads. Morrell followed Smart to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

as an assistant coach and stayed in the position until April 11, 2018 when he was named the seventh head coach in UNC Asheville men's basketball history, replacing

Nick McDevitt Nicholas Bryan McDevitt (born April 21, 1979) is a college basketball coach and the current head coach for Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Foun ...

who departed for

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

. Morrell has coached a number of

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

players, including 2014 NBA D-League All-star and current Phoenix Suns player Troy Daniels. He also coached 2015 A-10 Tournament MVP and current Charlotte Hornets player

Treveon Graham Treveon Graham (born October 28, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Long Island Nets of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the VCU Rams men's basketball, VCU Rams. High school career Graham played high sc ...

, and three-time A-10 Defensive Player of the Year

Brianté Weber Brianté Weber (born December 29, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for ONVO Büyükçekmece of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL). He played college basketball for the VCU Rams. High school career Weber attended Great B ...

, who plays with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. Most recently, Morrell coached current

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

player

Isaiah Taylor Isaiah Shaquille Taylor (born July 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. He has previously played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

, and 2016 McDonald's All-American

Jarrett Allen Jarrett Allen (born April 21, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns. Allen was selected 22nd overall by ...

, who was selected 22nd overall in the 2017 NBA Draft by the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

Head coaching record

NCAA DI

References

1982 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee Charleston Southern Buccaneers men's basketball coaches Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches Golfers from Tennessee Milligan Buffaloes men's basketball players People from Elizabethton, Tennessee Texas Longhorns men's basketball coaches UNC Asheville Bulldogs men's basketball coaches VCU Rams men's basketball coaches {{US-basketball-coach-stub