Memorial Service for former golf coach scheduled

Sunday at 2 p.m. in D.P. Culp Auditorium

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (July 25, 2007) - The ETSU athletics family will remember the late Howell "Hal" Morrison during a memorial service scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday inside the D.P. Culp Center Auditorium. The 78-year-old Morrison, who coached at ETSU from 1955 to 1983, lost a bout with cancer on July 15.

A 1976 inductee into the ETSU Athletics Hall of Fame, Morrison was a highly decorated Buccaneer during his playing days, earning acclaim in basketball, baseball and football from 1950 to 1953. He became ETSU's first All-American in 1953, and is second on the school's all-time receiving list with 20 career touchdown catches. A native of Kingsport, Morrison earned his BA and Masters Degree in Physical Education and Industrial Education from ETSU, and began his coaching career at ETSU in 1954.

Morrison, who acted was an assistant football coach (1954-58) and basketball coach (1954-60) for the Bucs, made a name for himself as the ETSU men's golf coach, helping to start the program in 1958 and leading the team until 1983. A 1988 inductee into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame, Morrison led the Bucs to three Ohio Valley Conference championships and five Southern Conference titles. During those years, he guided the Bucs to six NCAA Tournament berths and coached 15 All-Americans, including fellow Hall-of-Famers Bobby Wadkins, Mike Hulbert and J.C. Snead. He went on to continue a successful golf coaching career with a 10-year stint at East Carolina University from 1986 to 1996. The Hall of Fame Room inside ETSU's Warren-Greene Golf Center is named in honor of Morrison and his gifts to ETSU golf.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in his honor to University Health Systems Hospice Care, P.O. Box 6028, Greenville, NC 27835-9978.