Speedy Morris

School   Yrs.   Seasons    Win-Loss    St. Joseph's Prep   11   2001-pres.   231-69    La Salle U. (men)   15   1986-2001   238-203    La Salle U. (women)   2   1984-86    43-17    Penn Charter   2   1982-84    41-14    Roman Catholic   14   1967-81    347-82    Totals   44   1967-pres.   900-385   

Doug Overton could have told his son stories about his college basketball coach for hours. Heck, for even days, weeks and months into years. Instead, he went for brevity. "He only told me he's very passionate," Miles Overton said. "He said he'd let me find out the rest on my own. " Miles Overton, a junior, is a 6-3, 195-pound wing guard for St. Joseph's Prep and Friday he helped his coach, William "Speedy' Morris, again scribble his name into the record books. The occasion was a mostly routine Catholic League quarterfinal, played in the afternoon at the Prep, and Overton totaled 18 points and three assists as the Hawks muffled Archbishop Wood, 76-49.

Last week, a good man was fired from the job he loved as much as the air he breathes. I understand why. And so does Speedy Morris. Morris was cut loose Friday as basketball coach at LaSalle University. Eight losing seasons in a row are not optimum dynamics for job security in a profession where winning is the final arbiter. Coaching is often a cruel business, at all times an insane one. I know. I coach at the high school level. But I'm not here to muse about Speedy Morris the coach - take my word, he is a terrific coach.

Speedy Morris has 799 wins over 38 seasons, so it's no surprise that when he goes for No. 800 tonight, he will do so against one of his former players. The milestone for the St. Joseph's Prep head coach isn't a sure thing, though - at least not tonight - as Morris' Hawks face Carl Arrigale's Neumann-Goretti Saints in the Catholic League quarterfinals. The Hawks are ranked No. 4 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer; the Saints are No. 3. The 6 p.m. game is at, appropriately enough, La Salle University.

Speedy Morris doesn't know if tonight's first-round Atlantic Ten Conference tournament game against St. Joseph's will be the last he'll coach at La Salle. He does anticipate that, regardless, it will be one that will keep the spectators squirming in their Spectrum seats until the final ticks run off the clock. White-knuckle thrillers have become the hallmark of the heated, long-standing rivalry between the Explorers (12-14 overall, 8-8 conference), the third seed in the West Division, and the Hawks (12-17, 5-11)

Twelve hours after La Salle lost yet another heartbreaker, this time to Villanova, Speedy Morris showed up for lunch at a Roxborough tavern with fans and friends, some of whom strived mightily to perk up his spirits. "Somebody came over, shook my hand and said, 'Look, even if you lose your next 400 games, you'll still be over .500 (for your career), and a lot of coaches would kill to be at .500,' " Morris recalled. "Somehow, that didn't make me feel any better. " The current season - which ends with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament, beginning today in Indianapolis - has been a nightmare for Morris.

The crowd was booing, Speedy was screeching, Pete was tugging on his tie. Baskets were scarce as Alaska suntans. La Salle came to town and played basketball to sleep by. Slow and sonorous. Sometimes the best entertainment at the Cincinnati Gardens was watching the shot clock tick away. At the end, Xavier (14-3, 5-1) gave in, got patient, made free throws and beat the Explorers, 56-49, in a Midwestern Collegiate Conference game. The Musketeers are a team that has been ranked in the top 25 this season and is full of talented scorers and leapers.

After a week that produced three double-digit losses, things didn't look like they could get any worse for La Salle. Yesterday, they did. Against Fordham, the Explorers extended their losing streak to four games with an 86-80 defeat in an Atlantic Ten Conference game. After the contest, La Salle head coach Speedy Morris had some pointed words for his club. "Our defense was just awful, horrible," said Morris. "There's no fire. Nobody cares. Nobody. There's not one guy that cares.

Speedy Morris already looked at home yesterday at St. Joseph's Prep. As he relaxed in a chair in the office of Prep athletic director Jim Murray, Morris talked with Murray about everything. The future. The past. Family. Schedules. Rosters. Cafeteria food. The future. It appears especially bright at the Prep. The school yesterday introduced Morris, the former La Salle University men's basketball coach, as its new varsity basketball coach. He replaces Kevin Kelly, who resigned last month after two seasons.

The relationship between Joe and Kobe Bryant is perfect, if the news conference held yesterday to proclaim Kobe's decision to skip college and go directly to the pros is any indication. The relationship between La Salle University's head basketball coach, Speedy Morris, and his assistant, Joe Bryant, needs some mending, if it is not irreparably broken already. Kobe Bryant announced his intention to a throng of media, players and students in the Lower Merion High School gym, where he had scored so many of his Southeastern Pennsylvania-record 2,883 points.

Charles "Buddy" Donnelly was the captain and point guard for La Salle's 1952 NIT champions. Then-freshman Tom Gola was the star and leading scorer, but, in the team picture, Donnelly is in the middle of the front row, with a basketball in front of him. "He was a very good player and a real nice guy," said Speedy Morris, the winningest coach in La Salle history. Donnelly died Sunday at age 81. After graduation, Donnelly was the player/coach of the U.S. Army's Fort Belvoir (Va.)

Charles "Buddy" Donnelly, 81, the captain and point guard for La Salle's 1952 NIT champions, died Sunday. Then-freshman Tom Gola was the star and leading scorer for that championship squad, but, in the team picture, Mr. Donnelly is in the middle of the front row, with a basketball in front of him. "He was a very good player and a real nice guy," said Speedy Morris, the winningest coach in La Salle history. After graduation, Mr. Donnelly was the player-coach of the Army's Fort Belvoir (Va.)

THE BUZZER sounded and the announcement was never made . . . at least to the spectators. William "Speedy" Morris, of St. Joseph's Prep, has achieved so many coaching milestones over the last two seasons, maybe we've reached the point where the reaction becomes, "Ah, big deal. We've been here before. " With everyone making a contribution, the Hawks, last night, rolled past Archbishop Carroll, 58-49, in a Catholic League semifinal at the Palestra to give Morris the city record for career victories, with 622 in 27 seasons.

Doug Overton could have told his son stories about his college basketball coach for hours. Heck, for even days, weeks and months into years. Instead, he went for brevity. "He only told me he's very passionate," Miles Overton said. "He said he'd let me find out the rest on my own. " Miles Overton, a junior, is a 6-3, 195-pound wing guard for St. Joseph's Prep and Friday he helped his coach, William "Speedy' Morris, again scribble his name into the record books. The occasion was a mostly routine Catholic League quarterfinal, played in the afternoon at the Prep, and Overton totaled 18 points and three assists as the Hawks muffled Archbishop Wood, 76-49.

See and hear from Speedy Morris after the milestone victory.

School   Yrs.   Seasons    Win-Loss    St. Joseph's Prep   11   2001-pres.   231-69    La Salle U. (men)   15   1986-2001   238-203    La Salle U. (women)   2   1984-86    43-17    Penn Charter   2   1982-84    41-14    Roman Catholic   14   1967-81    347-82    Totals   44   1967-pres.   900-385   

After reaching another coaching milestone, William "Speedy" Morris looked back on how it all started. "I was 24 years old, coaching CYO ball, and I was lucky enough to get the JV job at Roman Catholic," he said. "Then they got rid of the varsity coach, and they offered me the job. All that's happened since then, well, it's kind of overwhelming. " On Friday afternoon, in front of an overflow crowd filled with former players and coaching brethren, Morris guided host St. Joseph's Prep, where he has been the last 11 seasons, to a 73-67 triumph over Roman.

By Ted Silary silaryt@phillynews.com In a crowded corner of St. Joseph's Prep's basketball locker room, long after much of the excitement had ebbed, coach William "Speedy" Morris finally got the chance to address his players. First things first: There'd be practice today. No one booed or even groaned. Then he noted, "Too much of this is on me. " Well, sir, the spotlight tends to resemble the sun when a guy garners his nine hundredth career coaching victory.

In the final seconds last night against St. Joseph's Prep, La Salle tried to put the ball in the hands of Eddie Mitchell, the team's catalyst, for a game-winning attempt. Joe Brown turned out to be a good Plan B. With Sean Brophy blanketing Mitchell at the top of the key, Brown drove the right side of the lane and banked in a layup with just 3.9 seconds to go as the host Explorers, who trailed most of the way, nipped the Hawks, 47-45, in a Catholic League Red Division clash in Wyndmoor.