University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
Mike Morrell
Record: 131-116 (Eight Seasons)
Mike Morrell, the active winningest coach in the Big South, enters his ninth season as head coach of the UNC Asheville men’s basketball program in 2026-27. Morrell was named the seventh head coach in program history on April 11, 2018, and has since guided the Bulldogs through one of the most successful stretches in the Division I era.
In his eighth season leading the program in 2025-26, Morrell continued to establish UNC Asheville as one of the premier programs in the Big South Conference. The Bulldogs reached at least eight conference wins for the seventh consecutive season and advanced to the conference semifinals for the fourth straight year, making Asheville one of just 22 programs nationally to accomplish that feat. Under Morrell’s leadership, Asheville led the league in multiple offensive categories while continuing its defensive excellence by holding opponents to the lowest scoring average in the conference over the last three seasons. The Bulldogs earned six Big South weekly honors and produced five all-conference selections, tied for the second-most in a season during Morrell’s tenure. Asheville also averaged more than 73 points per game for the seventh straight season and led the conference with 13 games featuring multiple 20-point scorers. Morrell finished the season with 131 wins, which is 13th all-time in league annals.
Morrell recorded his third consecutive 20-win season in 2024-25 and compiled a program-record 70 wins from 2022-23 through 2024-25. Over the last four seasons, Asheville posted a league-best .712 winning percentage in Big South play with a 47-19 conference record.
Following a 92-46 win over Bluefield on Dec. 11, 2024, Morrell earned his 100th career victory, becoming the fastest coach — men’s or women’s — in UNC Asheville basketball history to reach the milestone. He became just the second Division I-era coach in program history to record 100 wins and the 18th coach in Big South history to do so. Morrell also became the ninth-fastest coach in conference history to reach 100 victories. Asheville posted a 13-1 record inside Kimmel Arena during the 2024-25 season and owns a 38-3 home record over the last three seasons, good for a .926 winning percentage that ranks among the best in the nation.
The 2024-25 season also saw Asheville set a school record for most Big South Conference honors received in a single year, as five Bulldogs combined for seven league awards. The Bulldogs finished the season 21-11 overall and 11-5 in conference play.
Building off the success of the historic 2022-23 championship season, Asheville returned to the Big South Championship game in 2023-24 for the second consecutive year. The Bulldogs finished 22-12, and the program’s combined 49 wins over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons marked the best two-year stretch in school history. Asheville’s 49-20 record over that span ranked second among Division I programs in North Carolina and tied for 27th nationally in wins.
Morrell coached Drew Pember through one of the most decorated careers in program history. Pember became the first back-to-back Big South Player of the Year since 2008-09 and just the seventh multiple-time winner in league history. A two-time Defensive Player of the Year and two-time Preseason Player of the Year, Pember also became the first basketball student-athlete to earn the Howard Bagwell Male Athlete of the Year award in consecutive seasons.
Pember earned Lou Henson All-America honors and NABC All-District recognition for the second straight year in 2023-24 and became the first Bulldog to compete in the NABC Reese’s All-Star Game and the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. He also became the first player in program history to record two triple-doubles in a single season.
During the 2023-24 season, Josh Banks set a new program record with 10 three-pointers in a game against App State on Dec. 21 and later earned Big South Honorable Mention recognition.
The 2022-23 season marked one of the greatest years in program history, as Morrell guided the Bulldogs to a school-record 27 wins along with both the Big South regular season and tournament championships. Asheville earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016 and finished tied for fourth nationally in victories among Division I programs. Morrell was named the 2022-23 Big South Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the nation’s top mid-major head coach.
That season, Drew Pember became the first player in Big South history to earn Preseason Player of the Year, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament MVP honors in the same season. Tajion Jones earned First Team All-Big South honors and graduated as Asheville’s all-time leading scorer and three-point shooter.
During the 2021-22 season, Morrell led the Bulldogs to their first postseason appearance in four years with a berth in the College Basketball Invitational, where Asheville earned its first postseason victory by defeating Stephen F. Austin. Drew Pember was named the Big South Defensive Player of the Year after ranking 10th nationally with 93 blocked shots.
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season, Morrell guided Asheville to a 9-5 conference record and a first-round bye in the Big South Tournament. The Bulldogs also snapped Winthrop’s 21-game winning streak with a 57-55 road victory on Jan. 29, 2021.
After being hired on April 11, 2018, Morrell quickly engineered one of the top turnarounds in Division I basketball. In 2019-20, the Bulldogs improved by 11 wins from the previous season — tied for the third-largest improvement nationally — while finishing 15-16 overall and 8-10 in conference play after being picked ninth in the preseason standings.
Following the 2019-20 season, ESPN named Morrell one of the nation’s Top 40 coaches under 40 years old.
Prior to arriving at Asheville, Morrell served as an assistant coach at Texas from 2015-18 under current Marquette head coach Shaka Smart after previously spending four seasons on Smart’s staff at VCU. During his time at VCU, the Rams posted a 108-35 record and made four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Named the top recruiter in the country under the age of 35 in 2015 by ESPN, Morrell helped coach a team to the NCAA Tournament in nine of his 11 years at the NCAA Division I level as an assistant coach.
As the primary recruiting coordinator at Texas, Morrell helped sign two top-5 and one top-20 class.
The 2016-17 season at Texas for Morrell was highlighted by the development of freshman Jarrett Allen, who was selected as the No. 22 pick by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2017 NBA Draft. Allen earned All-Big 12 Conference third-team and Big 12 All-Newcomer Team accolades. He also claimed a spot on the 10-person USBWA All-District VII Team and the five-person NABC All-District 8 second-team.
Morrell has extensive ties to the Carolinas.
In fact, before joining Smart’s staff at VCU, he spent the 2010-11 season on Barclay Radebaugh’s staff at Charleston Southern.
Prior to his time at Charleston Southern, Morrell was on staff at Clemson under head coach Oliver Purnell. He served as a graduate assistant in 2007-08 before moving into the Director of Basketball Operations position at Clemson in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all three of his seasons on staff.
Morrell began his coaching career on staff at King College in Bristol, Tenn. in 2005-06 and 2006-07. The Tornado won the 2007 Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament first round. They posted an overall record of 23-11. He also served as the head coach of the golf team at King.
Born Aug. 22, 1982, Morrell was a two-sport standout at Milligan College where he was an 1,000-point scorer for the men’s basketball program. A three-year starter, Morrell helped the Buffaloes earn a spot in the NAIA National Tournament as a freshman in 2000-01. A two-time all-league selection in golf, Morrell, who earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 2005, led Milligan golf to the conference championship in 2003.
Morrell's Coaching Timeline
Year Position, School
| 2018-present | Head Coach, UNC Asheville |
| 2015-18 | Assistant Coach, University of Texas |
| 2011-15 | Assistant Coach, Virginia Commonwealth University |
| 2010-11 | Assistant Coach, Charleston Southern |
| 2008-10 | Director of Basketball Operations, Clemson University |
| 2007-08 | Graduate Assistant, Clemson University |
| 2005-07 | Assistant Coach, King College |
Big South All-Conference Selections Under Morrell
2018-19: All-Freshman Team- DeVon Baker | All-Academic- Donovan Gilmore2019-20: Second Team- DeVon Baker | Honorable Mention- LJ Thorpe | All-Academic- Jax Levitch
2020-21: Second Team- Tajion Jones | Honorable Mention- LJ Thorpe | All-Academic- Coty Jude
2021-22: Defensive Player of the Year- Drew Pember | First Team- Drew Pember | Honorable Mention- LJ Thorpe | All-Academic- Coty Jude
2022-23: Player of the Year- Drew Pember | Defensive Player of the Year- Drew Pember | Coach of the Year- Mike Morrell | First Team- Drew Pember | First Team- Tajion Jones | All-Academic- Fletcher Abee
2023-24: Player of the Year- Drew Pember | First Team- Drew Pember | Honorable Mention- Josh Banks | All-Academic- Fletcher Abee
2024-25: Newcomer of the Year & First Team All-Conference- Jordan Marsh | Scholar Athlete of the Year & All-Academic Team- Fletcher Abee | Second Team All-Conference- Toyaz Solomon | Honorable Mention- Josh Banks | All-Freshman Team- Kameron Taylor
2025-26: All-Conference First Team- Kameron Taylor | All-Conference Second Team- Toyaz Solomon | All-Freshman Team- Myles Mayfield and Daniel Thomas | All-Academic Team- DJ Patrick
