George Morrison, one of the most familiar faces in Island sport over the past 30 years, will enter the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, when the induction dinner is held here at the Red Shores Racetrack and Casino.
Morrison will join Sandy Frizzell (builder, hockey), Cathy Dillon (athlete, curling), Jamie Kennedy (athlete, hockey) and Myron Weeks (builder, volleyball) as the Hall of Fame’s newest members.
For more than 40 years, George Morrison has been synonymous with basketball on P.E.I., most notably at UPEI. He built a program in the 1980s that had the men’s Panthers consistently ranked as one of the top teams in the country, and saw Morrison become one of the most respected coaches in Canada.
It was at the high school level where Morrison enjoyed his early successes, winning back-to-back championships while turning the Morell Marlins’ girls into the best team on P.E.I. in the late 1970s.
Morrison was also an assistant to Dave McNeill with the UPEI women’s squad, before taking over as head coach in 1979. He took the Panthers to four playoff berths, and was named AUAA coach of the year in 1981.
In 1983, Morrison took over the men’s head coaching position.
In no time his hard work and tireless recruiting paid off, winning a conference title — the Panthers’ first — in 1986.
This would be followed with back-to-back titles in 1988 and 1989, in addition to regular-season championships in 1990 and 1991. Other highlights included being ranked No. 1 in the country in 1988-89, winning over 300 varsity games, and putting a 47-game home winning streak together between 1987-1991.
Morrison won AUAA coach-of-the-year honours twice in 1985 and 1996 — the first coach to win both awards for men’s and women’s basketball — and he was selected as a guest coach for the Canadian team in 1985.
The 1980s were unparalleled in Island hoops history, and this was recognized by Island media naming Morrison the coach of the decade.
It is not just as a varsity head coach that Morrison transformed the sport — his camps attracted hundreds of youngsters each year, and his teaching skills helped many young Island players on their way to successful varsity careers.
At the provincial level, he has coached all of the top representative teams, including both male and female teams at the Canada Games.
He currently looks after the men’s program at Holland College, where, true to form, he has transformed the school into a competitive force on the Atlantic college circuit.
Very few tickets remain for Friday’s dinner. Tickets will not be available on the door, and can only be purchased in advance by contacting Nick at 368-4547.
