University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Morrell Named to Top 40 Coaches Under 40 Years Old by ESPN
05.13.2020 | Men's Basketball
After engineering an 11-game improvement in his second year as head coach of UNC Asheville men's basketball, Mike Morrell has been selected as Top 40 coach under 40 years old by ESPN.
The Bulldogs returned 83.6 percent of their minutes played from the season before, but still ranked inside the Top 15 all season among youngest teams according to Ken Pomeroy, as the starting lineup consisted of all sophomores. Asheville was one of just two teams in the country to use the same starting lineup the entire season, and all five starters averaged double-digits in scoring.
With consistency and experience, the Bulldogs improved their record from 4-27 to 15-16, including an 8-10 mark in Big South Conference play. The Bulldogs entered the season predicted to finish ninth in the league standings, but ended the year in a tie for fifth: the largest jump in predicted finish in the conference.
Morrell coached two All-Big South performers, as sophomore DeVon Baker was named to the second-team while redshirt sophomore LJ Thorpe earned honorable mention recognition. Redshirt junior Jax Levitch was named to the All-Academic Team.
After a first season with eight freshman learning the ropes of collegiate basketball, Morrell truly began to establish his desired style of play in Year Two. The Bulldogs played aggressive pressure defense, and led the Big South and ranked in the Top 25 nationally in turnover margin (plus-5.2), turnovers forced per game (16.9), total steals (250) and steals per game (8.3).
The Bulldogs finished fourth nationally in turnover margin, and led the nation in the statistic for a period during the season. Under Morrell's direction, redshirt sophomore Lavar Batts, Jr. led the Big South in steals, and three other players – Baker, Thorpe and Trent Stephney – all ranked inside the Top 15 in the conference in steals. No other team had more than two players in the Top 15.
The Bulldogs also were much improved on the offensive end, as four players – Baker, Thorpe, Tajion Jones and Batts – all ranked inside the Top 16 in the Big South in scoring. No other team in the league had more than two in the Top 16.
In addition to those four, Coty Jude also averaged 10 points per game, and he moved into the Top 10 all-time at Asheville in career 3-pointers, as he is tied for ninth with 140.
To read the article by ESPN, CLICK HERE.
The Bulldogs returned 83.6 percent of their minutes played from the season before, but still ranked inside the Top 15 all season among youngest teams according to Ken Pomeroy, as the starting lineup consisted of all sophomores. Asheville was one of just two teams in the country to use the same starting lineup the entire season, and all five starters averaged double-digits in scoring.
With consistency and experience, the Bulldogs improved their record from 4-27 to 15-16, including an 8-10 mark in Big South Conference play. The Bulldogs entered the season predicted to finish ninth in the league standings, but ended the year in a tie for fifth: the largest jump in predicted finish in the conference.
Morrell coached two All-Big South performers, as sophomore DeVon Baker was named to the second-team while redshirt sophomore LJ Thorpe earned honorable mention recognition. Redshirt junior Jax Levitch was named to the All-Academic Team.
After a first season with eight freshman learning the ropes of collegiate basketball, Morrell truly began to establish his desired style of play in Year Two. The Bulldogs played aggressive pressure defense, and led the Big South and ranked in the Top 25 nationally in turnover margin (plus-5.2), turnovers forced per game (16.9), total steals (250) and steals per game (8.3).
The Bulldogs finished fourth nationally in turnover margin, and led the nation in the statistic for a period during the season. Under Morrell's direction, redshirt sophomore Lavar Batts, Jr. led the Big South in steals, and three other players – Baker, Thorpe and Trent Stephney – all ranked inside the Top 15 in the conference in steals. No other team had more than two players in the Top 15.
The Bulldogs also were much improved on the offensive end, as four players – Baker, Thorpe, Tajion Jones and Batts – all ranked inside the Top 16 in the Big South in scoring. No other team in the league had more than two in the Top 16.
In addition to those four, Coty Jude also averaged 10 points per game, and he moved into the Top 10 all-time at Asheville in career 3-pointers, as he is tied for ninth with 140.
To read the article by ESPN, CLICK HERE.
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