Morrell and Asheville continue their climb on a strong foundation

 

Asheville coach Mike Morrell patrols the sidelines in Saturday's semifinal against High Point.  (Photo:  UNC Asheville Athletics)

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Call Mike Morrell anything you wish. Just don’t call him “old man.”

The UNC Asheville head coach has spent eight seasons in the Big South and has seen the game – and the relationships that come with it – change. He’ll never admit it, but he’s changed a bit, too, as he’s become the longest-tenured coach in the league.

At his core, one thing is consistent with Morrell. He believes in building a program.

Morrell’s beliefs shine through in his relationships with his players, as with the tears streaming down his face during his post-game press conference. Forward Toyaz Solomon, the Big South Preseason Player of the Year, has flourished with Morrell and his staff. Solomon is coached at a level approached only by that of Morrell’s prior Big South Player of the Year, Drew Pember. Solomon wants it that way, as does his family.

“(His coaching) has shaped me into what I am today,” Solomon said. “I’m not perfect, but Coach Morrell always helps me respond and move on to the next thing without getting down on one thing.”

“He gets on me a lot, but I kind of need it. He’s kind of like a father figure in my life. I’ve got my mom, but he’s been a father figure for the last few years, and I just appreciate it.”

Morrell doesn’t just recruit kids. He recruits moms. He recruits dads. He recruits homes. Morrell is not shy about his relationship with Solomon’s mom.

“The best thing about Toyaz Solomon is (his mom),” Morrell said. “She says I get to coach him however I want to. That’s our relationship. He wants to make money playing basketball, and when he doesn’t live up to that, he gets told. Most of the time, he responds. There were parts of this year where he didn’t respond, and he knows that.”

“Toyaz is at his best when he’s joyful. We’ve got this thing where, in a game, if he wants me to shut up, he can tell me that. He’s got to (give me a thumbs up). That’s his mother. His mother allows me to coach him that way. So did Tajion Jones’ mom. So did Drew Pember’s mom and dad. So does Justin Wright’s mom and Kam Taylor’s mom and dad, too.”

The relationship with Wright is interesting on several fronts. Morrell always shares a bond with his point guards. Every Bulldog team in the last eight seasons has featured a group of point guards that feel like extensions of their staff on the floor. Wright’s veteran presence helped build the connection, but there is more behind the scenes.

“We’re kind of built the same way,” Morrell said. “We come from single-parent homes. You fight for what you want. If you don’t, you don’t get it. That’s how he plays. That’s how he lets me coach him. I like guys like that. They don’t want to be pampered. They don’t want to be patted on the ass all the time.”

“He didn’t come for money. He came because he wanted to win. That’s a big difference, especially today.”

The draw home always stays with Morrell. The Big South tournament is contested here in Johnson City, just a few minutes down the road from Morrell’s hometown of Elizabethton. That has – as one might expect – been the story of the week, but the roots run deep.

“I love my home,” Morrell said. “Like I told the team, I’ve done this for 21 years. I played NAIA (basketball) down the road at Milligan. That’s five minutes from here. I grew up running these roads. I didn’t need a bus driver to Google anything. To bring my team back and watch them fight the way they did…yeah, I’ll lose for that.”

“That’s why I coach. That’s why I’ve stayed at Asheville, too. My two bosses allow me to work. They allow me to coach the way I like to coach. I get great support. I didn’t really have a dad growing up, so the coaches in my life in east Tennessee were that. Yeah, it’s special, but I just want to win. It could be on the moon.”

The seniors on this Asheville team have made a clear impression on their coach. One only need ask him.

“Their mark is a lot bigger on me than (mine is) on them,” Morrell said. “They’re just a special group.”

That special group closed a season in which it continued to fight through adversity, falling to High Point, 75-71, in the tournament semifinals. Morrell offered a painful truth about the result.

“March is not always kind,” Morrell said. “That’s one of the reasons everybody in the world loves for March to come around – highs to highs, lows to lows. March doesn’t discriminate. It comes for all of us.”

When the time comes for Morrell to leave the town he’s grown to love and call a second home, his legacy will be cemented. So, too, will be the program – and yes, he is intentional in that word choice – he has built.

“I don’t resign to the fact that you can’t build a program in this day and age,” Morrell said before the season. “I think it’s harder. I think there are more challenges that come along with it. That’s what we continue to try to do here. I think that’s one of the reasons I value this place. I think they value what we’ve tried to do.”