Women's Basketball
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Samantha Morrow enters her second year as the head women's basketball at UT Arlington in 2008.
In her first season Morrow led the Lady Mavericks to an impressive 19-10 overall record and a 13-3 mark in the SLC. The Lady Mavericks finished with a 9-2 record at Texas Hall and captured five of their last six games of the season.
The Lady Mavericks finished first in six categories in the Southland Conference, including field goal percentage, field goal defense, three-point field goal percentage defense, rebounding margin, assists and defensive rebounds.
Under the guidance of Morrow, seniors Maryann Abanobi averaged a team-high 12.7 points per game en route to earning All-Southland Conference Second Team accolades while Tiffeny Riles led the Lady Mavericks in rebounding with 7.6 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Southland Conference Second Team.
Morrow led the Lady Mavericks to their 19th Southland Conference appearance where they defeated McNeese State but fell in the second round to University at San Antonio.
Morrow began her coaching career with UTA on May 17, 2008, as she was selected as the eighth head women's basketball coach in school history.
Morrow's road to being a head women's basketball coach at a Division I program began at a small town few people stop at unless they had a flat tire or needed directions.
And while Graford, Texas, has suddenly become the home of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillespie, you might save a little paint for the water tower to add Morrow's name alongside and the favorite daughter of the small town of 494, give or take a few.
Named the eighth women's basketball coach last spring, Morrow comes to UT Arlington after winning four consecutive Class 5A state championships at Mansfield High School from 1999 to 2002. She was named the 2002 National Federation of High Schools Coaches Association's National Coach of the Year and completed her prep career with 413 wins in 14 seasons.
Morrow's high school background does not scare UT Arlington Athletics Director Pete Carlon, who ventured into the prep ranks to hire previous coach Donna Capps who compiled two NCAA Tournament appearances and the program's first two Southland Conference titles in the past three seasons.
"There is not a high school gym in Texas that she can't walk into and have instant respect," said Carlon during Morrow's press conference on May 16. "We think she will continue to build the program into one of the best in the nation."
"I feel right at home (at UT Arlington)," said Morrow, who took a break from a busy summer schedule to talk about her transition from high school to college coaching. "The people are like family and that meant a lot to me (in my decision)."
BASKETBALL AT BIRTH
Growing up in tiny Graford, Texas, 65 miles southwest of Fort Worth, basketball was and still is a way of life.
"I knew I wanted to be a basketball coach when I was in the sixth grade," said Morrow.
Graford is not your typical West Texas town. The only grocery store bears the Morrow name and there is just one restaurant to eat at. The community was too small to field much of a football team, so it didn't even try.
"Basketball is a birthright in Graford," said current Graford Athletics Director and Head Boys Basketball Coach, J.B. Littlejohn. "(Graford) has always been a strong basketball program. There is a small pocket of towns without football when you include Lipan and Ponder. There is a mind set here - you play basketball and you play it well. The talk in the summer here isn't football it is how well are you going to do in basketball.
"(Current University of Kentucky men's basketball coach and Graford native Billy Gillespie) and Sam have helped make it OK to be a basketball school," said Littlejohn.
ALWAYS A WORKER
Morrow drove a cattle truck, hauled hay, loaded and unloaded 50-pound sacks of feed, shoveled oats and stocked shelves at the Morrow Grocery while growing up in Graford. Morrow's parents and grandparents were ranchers. She grew up around cattle, horses and the "store." After her father's passing in 2000, Morrow's mother continues to run the family's 500-head cattle business. Working hard was the way of life at the Morrow home.
"I got a penny for everything I did," recalled Morrow. "It was good working for my dad, but you can't call in sick. In the summer, you worked in the day and went to the gym at night.
"In the late fall and winter (basketball) was your entertainment on Tuesday and Friday night. My older sister played basketball. The people I idolized were the basketball players."
Without a television in the household "for a longtime" according to Samantha's mother, Judy Morrow. Summer nights in Graford were spent at the high-school gym just a rock throw from Morrow's front yard.
"I knew the superintendent's son so we'd get the keys to the gym. Weekdays we'd play until nine and on Friday nights sometimes until 11. We took good care of the place. Basketball was what you did for entertainment in Graford. When you live in a town of 300, people could not do anything wrong. (The town's adults) would bust your butt if you don't stay out of trouble."
Education was also a must. Both of Morrow's parents, father Ervin and mother Judy, taught school in the GISD. Ervin, who also served on the school board, taught math and Judy lectured in sciences before devoting time to her husband's cattle ranch.
Morrow earned a scholarship to Ranger Junior College and later to Texas Wesleyan University where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1981. She completed her master's degree at Tarleton State University in 1987 while coaching at Stephenville High School.
Morrow is an admitted sports junkie. "I can watch any sport at any time. ESPN was the greatest invention; I love to watch sports."
In a small town, she had her chance at almost every sport the school offered. She won the Class B state girls golf championship as a sophomore in 1975, and was a participant in the 2002 Olympic torch relay for the Salt Lake City Games. A member of the region-qualifying relay team in track and field, she continues to be an avid runner. Morrow even has an interest in a racehorse and frequents Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie.
Her love of animals comes from the days in Graford. When girls weren't allowed to agriculture classes, Morrow participated in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4-H where she raised calves and sheep for show. She has owned as many as four dogs at one time and currently has two dogs and cats.
Morrow's decision to leave an assistant athletic director position within the Mansfield ISD was due in part because "UT Arlington is a gold mine (for women's basketball).
"I believe we have an excellent opportunity to win a game, then two, then three," Morrow said of the team's capability at the NCAA Tournament. "I want to go beyond being Southland Conference champions."
And UT Arlington thinks it has found the diamond in the rough to do just that.
