Grandview High hoops coach wins annual Paul Lambert Coach of the Year Award
Grandview High boys basketball coach Reggie Morris is the recipient of the 2019 Paul Lambert Coach of the Year Award.
The award is given annually to the top boys basketball coach in the Kansas City metro. The presentation ceremony took place at Grandview during a recent a school assembly; the award was presented by William Jewell College men’s basketball coach Larry Holley.
Morris’ Bulldogs team finished with a 29-2 record and won the Missouri Class 4 boys state championship this month in Springfield — the second straight year Grandview’s won the title. Grandview was ranked No. 1 in the Kansas City metro and by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
Morris began his coaching career as an assistant at Creighton Prep (Neb.) and O’Hara. His previous head coaching stop was at Westport High. He was an assistant at Grandview for eight years before taking the top job in fall 2014. A graduate of Creighton University, he has won 111 games at Grandview, and 192 overall.
This year, the Bulldogs won the Suburban Conference Blue Division championship for the third straight season, the Shawnee Mission West Tournament and the Missouri District 12 title (also for the third straight year).
Morris was also named the Suburban Conference Blue Division’s coach of the year for the third year in a row and was honored as the state’s 4A coach of the year by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, becoming the seventh coach to win the award more than once but the first to win it back-to-back.
The Paul Lambert Award honors the memory of Paul Lambert Jr., a 1956 William Jewell grad who died in a hotel fire in 1978. His widow, Carol Lambert Spence, established the award through William Jewell. Holley, the longtime head coach at Jewell, and a committee select the winner each year.
Lambert’s coaching career began with the high school team in Moberly. He later coached at Drake, Pitt State, Hardin-Simmons (Texas) and Southern Illinois. He had just accepted the coaching position at Auburn University at the time of his death.
Previous Lambert Award winners
1984: Randy Springs, Wyandotte
1985: Harold Brown, Lathrop
1986: Sherman Wofford, Ruskin
1987: Doug Bruce, Rockhurst
1988: Glen McDonald, Lee’s Summit
1989: Doug Bruce, Rockhurst
1990: Bud Lathrop, Raytown-South
1991: Dan Miller, Hickman Mills
1992: Bill Lenz, Raymore-Peculiar
1993: Chuck Minor, Schlagle
1994: Steve Broughton, Truman
1995: Mark Scanlon, Raytown
1996: John McFall, Olathe South
1997: Rick Allison, Pembroke Hill
1998: Mark Nusbaum, Liberty
1999: Rick Zych, Bishop Miege
2000: Jed Frost, Park Hill South
2001: Rick Zych, Bishop Miege
2002: Roger Stirtz, Liberty
2003: Bud Lathrop, Raytown South
2004: John McFall, Olathe South
2005: Todd Maguire, O’Hara
2006: Kevin Nichols, Cameron
2007: Gerry Marlin, Ruskin
2008: Mark Scanlon, Raytown
2009: Randy Farris, Grandview
2010: Rich Zych, Bishop Miege
2011: Dan Parra, Sumner Academy
2012: Ed Fritz, Blue Valley Northwest
2013: Mark Nusbaum, Rockhurst
2014: Rod Briggs, Lansing
2015: Dan Parra, Park Hill South
2016: Blake Little, Lee’s Summit
2017: Rick Zych, Bishop Miege
2018: Reggie Morris, Grandview