Bell County names basketball court after former Kentucky WBB star Maci Morris
Before Maci Morris was making All-SEC teams during her magnificent four-year career at the University of Kentucky, she was just a small-town girl from Pineville.
Morris began playing varsity basketball as a seventh grader at Bell County High School. She was named a starter in eighth grade and soon went on to have one of the best high school basketball careers of any Kentuckian. The 6-foot sharpshooter was tabbed to the All-State team three different years and ultimately received the Miss Kentucky Basketball award in 2015.
During her senior season at Bell County, Morris averaged 25.6 points and 7.9 rebounds, leading the Lady Cats to a 29-3 overall record and an appearance in the Sweet 16. Her time at Bell County came to an end after she poured in 3,368 career points, sixth all-time in the state of Kentucky and most in school history.
Nearly a decade later, Morris is being recognized by the Bell County Board of Education, as the school has named its basketball court after her. The floor will now be known as the “Maci Morris Court”.
“I am just so appreciative of what they are doing,” Morris told Larry Vaught of YourSportsEdge. “It’s such a great honor. Not many people get a court named after them and for them to do this for me is just awesome. The AD (athletics director) and superintendent just told me that I did so much for the school and then at UK and always represented Bell County so well that they wanted to do this.”
Morris, now 27, would continue her post-high school career with Kentucky women’s basketball, coming to Lexington as a nationally-ranked recruit. She currently ranks seventh in program history with 1,692 career points while her 252 career made three-pointers (on a 41.1 percent shooting clip) rank second all-time. Morris was an SEC All-Freshman Team member in 2015-16 before making the All-SEC Second Team as a junior and All-SEC First Team as a senior.
Now four years removed from her time at UK, Morris is back home in eastern Kentucky following some time in PA school. According to Vaught, Morris now works as a physician’s assistant in the emergency room at Saint Joseph Health in London, KY. She continues to be a constant figure in the community, hosting youth basketball camps each summer. Morris tried her hand in the WNBA and even spent some time overseas, but her heart has always been in the Bluegrass.
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