Brian Morris joined the Aquinas Athletic Department during the 2018-19 season and serves as the head coach of the AQ women's basketball program after being officially named to the position in the summer of 2019. Morris is the sixth head coach in the history of the AQ women's basketball program. In addition to his responsibilities as the leader of the women's basketball program, Morris also serves as the Transfer Tracer Coordinator to ensure that all transfers are processed appropriately.
Morris begins his sixth full season as head coach of the Aquinas women's basketball program. Morris took over as interim head coach for the second half of the 2018-19 season and has led AQ to a 78-76 record since becoming the Saints head coach.
Brian has overseen a lot of individual success on the court over his time on the AQ sideline. In his six seasons, he has coached four WHAC Defensive Players of the Year and a WHAC Newcomer of the Year. He has also supported six All-WHAC First Team, four All-WHAC Second Team, four WHAC All-Defense, and three WHAC All-Freshman selections.
Marissa Brady won the WHAC Defensive Player of the Year twice under Morris' direction. She also sits at the top of the Aquinas recordbook in several categories, including the most blocks in a season (104) and the most rebounds in a game (26). Alona Blackwell shattered many offensive records in 2023-24, including the most points in a season (732), most field goals converted in a season (261), and the highest points per game average in a season (25.24). Her 25.24 points per game also broke the WHAC's record for the most points per game in a season.
Academically, the Saints have had 25 student-athletes named to WHAC All-Academic teams. This number has increased dramatically over the past two seasons with 15 of those 25 student-athletes being recognized over the last two seasons.
Morris was Aquinas' interim head coach over the final 21 games of the 2018-19 season, guiding the Saints to a 17-4 record over that span and a runner-up finish in both the WHAC regular season standings and the WHAC Tournament. Aquinas also advanced to the NAIA National Tournament and finished the year with a 25-9 record and as the No. 21 ranked team in the country.
It was AQ's first trip to the NAIA postseason since the 2009-10 campaign and the program's first appearance in the WHAC Tournament championship game since the 2007-08 season; that was also the last year in which Aquinas recorded 25 victories. The Saints finished seventh in the NAIA in scoring defense in 2018-19, giving up just 56.5 points per game, and 19th in the country in defensive field goal percentage.
Prior to being named the AQ head coach, in his first two years as an assistant coach and the so-called defensive coordinator at Aquinas, the Saints' defense took center stage. The 2016-17 Aquinas team led the country in defensive three-point field goal percentage, ranked second overall in the NAIA in defensive field goal percentage, third in defensive rebounds per game, and 11th in scoring defense. AQ was also 11th in the NAIA in 2017-18 in scoring defense and 19th in defensive field goal percentage.
Aquinas increased its win total in the first three seasons of Morris' time with the Saints, improving from 17 wins in 2016-17 to 18 victories in 2017-18 to 25 wins in 2018-19. The 25 victories in 2018-19 are just two wins shy of the school record of 27 triumphs in 1984-85.
Prior to his career at Aquinas, Morris spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Davenport, helping the Panthers to a 128-11 record, a national championship runner-up finish, four WHAC regular season titles, and four conference tournament championships. Morris also led the Davenport junior varsity team for two seasons.
He also served as the girls' varsity basketball coach at Union High School from 2008-12 and the girls' varsity softball coach at Creston from 2005-10. Morris also spent 2003-05 as a coach for Grand Rapids Public Schools in the roles of middle school head coach, junior varsity head coach, and varsity assistant coach.
A graduate of Cornerstone, Morris is originally from Grand Rapids, where he attended and graduated from Wyoming Lee High School.
