The Winningest Coach in Catholic League History
William "Speedy" Morris set the all-time Catholic League coaching wins record on February 7, 2011, when his St. Joseph's Prep Hawks beat visiting Cardinal O'Hara 55-38. In his 24th season as a Catholic League high school head coach across two separate stints — 14 seasons at Roman Catholic from 1967 through 1981 and 10 more at St. Joseph's Prep starting in 2002 — Morris became, by the numbers, the winningest coach the Catholic League had ever produced: 561-146.
When the PA announcer at SJP notified the crowd of the milestone moments after the final buzzer, Morris — standing in front of the bench, lightly touching his chin as the final possessions ran out — was asked what he had been thinking about during the final minute.
I was just glad it was over. O'Hara was lights-out in the first quarter.
That was Speedy Morris.
The Roman Catholic Years — 1967 to 1981
The first half of Morris's career belonged to Roman Catholic, where he took over as head basketball coach in 1967 and won six Catholic League championships over the next 14 seasons (1969, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980). He coached Mike Bantom — the future Villanova star and 9-year NBA player — to an All-Catholic selection in 1969. He coached Jim O'Brien, who won the 1970 first team All-Catholic nod. He coached Reggie Jackson (the basketball player, not the baseball one) to back-to-back first-team All-Catholic honors in 1977 and 1978. He coached Lonnie McFarlan — the 1980 Markward Award winner and a McDonald's All-American who nearly beat Overbrook in that year's City Title game — to first-team All-Catholic honors in both 1979 and 1980.
By the time Morris left Roman Catholic in 1981, his record there stood at 347-82 — a .809 winning percentage over 14 seasons — and the foundation had been built for Dennis Seddon to inherit in 1987 and win 10 more Catholic League titles on top of it.
