Coach Has Vikings Ready to Conquer

Inside his soft-spoken, well-dressed exterior, boys' basketball coach is an intense competitor who won’t accept any less from his players. 

Since taking over the Vikings' program this season, Morris has made sure his players have never worked harder. Conditioning began in the fall with long runs on the beach and lots of sprint work. 

On every play and in every practice drill, he expects 100 percent intensity. If a player doesn’t deliver, he finds himself on the bench.

“He’s got a no tolerance policy,” senior said. “He holds you accountable for everything. If you make a mistake, he lets you know and know loudly.”

And he gets results.

Before Morris arrived this season, the Vikings hadn’t won a league game in two years. This season, they haven’t lost one, amassing a 17-7 overall record and a 7-o mark in league.

He installed an up-tempo style that begins with a stifling defense. St. Bernard runs a full-court press throughout the game and thrives on the fast-break opportunities created by its defense.

“The style I like to coach is frenetic, fast and crazy,” Morris said. “It may look like chaos, but it’s organized chaos. We can’t play at anyone else’s tempo. We have to play at our tempo all 32 minutes.”

When he first introduced his new philosophy to the players he met with some resistance, but seniors Mbela and soon embraced it, and everyone else followed.

“We needed to win this year,” Morrison said. “We want to lose that losing mentality. I thought, ‘We have to do what this guy says because he knows what he’s doing.’”

Morris had proven that by winning a CIF title the previous year at Lawndale Leuzinger, where he coached for eight years, developing a program with little success into a champion that produced two NBA talents.

Once developing Leuzinger into a champion, he made the move to another program with little recent success, citing the stability of the school as his main reason for the change.

“This place is a gold mine in terms of the high level of educational opportunities,” Morris said. “I’d like to bring that same level of excellence to the athletic programs.”

When in doubt, all he has to do is think back on years of coaching training he received being groomed by his father, Reggie Morris Sr., who coaches at LA Southwest College, where Morris Jr. also played as a guard.

“I started like everyone else, with dreams of being a player but knowing someday I would slide into the coaching role,” Morris said. “For me, coaching just happened a little sooner.”

He takes a lot of coaching advice and philosophy from his father, who he describes as his biggest critic and his biggest fan. 

“My dad was very demanding,” Morris said. “If you didn’t do it his way, you’d sit.”

According to his players, that’s a philosophy Morris has no problem employing. But as long as they keep winning, they don’t mind listening to every word Morris says. 

Fortunately, Morris’ goal is simply that: He wants to win.

“My goal is to win every game, no matter who we’re playing,” Morris said. “I want teams to know we’re here and that we’re a serious threat. As long as we play that way every game, we’ll always be competitive.”