City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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They both left on their own terms, leaving their own indelible marks, and you have the sense that either of them will not be gone for long from coaching.

After 21 years, 294 wins, and a District 1 Class 6A title, Souderton’s longtime girls’ coach Lynn Carroll decided to step down, joining another local coaching treasure, Bensalem’s boys’ coach Ron Morris, who after four Suburban One League Patriot Conference titles and 96 wins in six years, told his team he would be stepping down on Tuesday.

Both have much in common, though share the uncommon bond, by today’s carousel coaching world standards, of longevity. Carroll began coaching at Souderton at 24 and stayed 21 years. Morris began at 25 in the Bensalem School District, becoming a beloved fixture serving 20 years at Bensalem, his first 14 as an assistant under previous Owls’ head coaches Mike McCabe and John Mullen.

Both are leaving coaching to spend more time with their families. Carroll has a seven-year-old son, and Morris is the father of three, his two sons, separated by 11 months, who played for him at Bensalem, Antonio (Mercer County Community College) and Noah (Bucks County Community College) and his youngest, his daughter Ella, who just turned 13, is in seventh grade (and will go to Bensalem) and plays travel and AAU basketball. (Souderton boys coach Okoteh Sackitey also resigned this spring, after four seasons, citing family reasons as well).

Juggling their schedules was becoming difficult for both.

Carroll told her team Monday, February 17th, and not long after that went public with her decision to leave.

“I have a seven-year-old son, and when he started first grade, the commute started to get harder,” said Carroll, who guided Souderton to two PIAA Class 6A state semifinals (2017 and 2018) and to the school’s only district championship (2018). “It was a really, really hard decision. I may think about (coaching) again, but this was the best decision for my family. It was a hard decision. It was pretty terrible telling the girls. It was one of the most difficult things that I have ever done. The girls were great. There were a lot of hugs and tears. I love this group. They gave us everything. These girls and this team are going to be successful moving forward.

“Whoever is lucky enough to get this position, they will walking into something that will be pretty good. Most of the girls I coached have children older than mine. As tough as this was, what made it a lot easier was reconnecting with my past players wishing me the best in whatever I do next. It also gave me an opportunity to express my gratitude. People think I’m an idiot for stepping down (so close to 300 wins) and coaching for one more year. A lot went into it. I have had some incredible assistant coaches. I would not be anywhere without my mentor, Steve Chapman.”

She took over the Souderton program at the fresh, young age of 24 after coaching stints as Abington’s freshman team coach and Norristown’s junior varsity coach. She says she was “a baby,” not much older than the girls she was coaching.

“Those girls were very kind to me,” Carroll said about her first team. “I look back then and I didn’t really know much (laughs). I was lucky to get the job in the first place and do it as long as I have. I wanted to make sure the kids knew that they were valued. I didn’t always hit the mark. I did not really realize until later in my career the impact you can really have as a coach or a teacher. I continued to remind myself that it is so much bigger than what your record is or accomplishments on the court. That is the peace I can leave with, being happy where I arrived at the end of my career."

The Souderton team banquet is this Sunday. Carroll stressed how grateful she is to the Souderton School District Carroll. She reflected on the numerous times she told her team how much she loved them during her February announcement, though the toughest part came when she told her son she would not be coaching anymore.

This time has been like one long funeral.

“It has been,” she said. “There is some grief. I was numb for a while. I’m still in the grieving process, and I know next winter, that process will start again. When I finally told my son, he started to cry. That totally broke my heart. He loved being around my players. He got so much attention. Those two (state semifinal) years were awesome. That team was very special. That group was fun to watch, fun to coach. We lost two heartbreakers in both of those years. I’ll miss the relationships the most. The best thing for me after a bad loss was seeing the kids at practice the next day. I was very lucky to be involved with girls who all had the same goals.”

Carroll recently signed up to coach her son’s baseball team this spring.

Morris, 45, told his family on Sunday night, his coaching staff on Monday night and called his team down at school on Tuesday morning to tell them in person he was going.

He guided the undersized Owls to four Suburban One League Patriot Conference in six years (2020, 2022), including consecutive Patriot titles the last two years. Under Morris, Bensalem reached the District 1 Class 6A final four in 2020, and were three-time state qualifiers. Prior to Morris, who had a coaching record of 96-60, the Owls last won the SOL Patriot was in 2003. Morris’ small, guard-oriented teams were always competitive against athletically superior teams.

Morris, who received a business degree from Temple and went back to get his graduate degree in education, still teaches business/technology at Bensalem. He has taught the last 18 years in the Bensalem School District, the first six in middle school and last 12 at Bensalem High School. Ironically, his family, who is leaving coaching for to spend more time with, wanted him to stay.

But he said he received advice from countless people in and around coaching that this is a precious time that cannot be missed with his sons in their late-teens and early 20s, and his daughter about to enter high school.  

Morris received a scare when he endured a stroke in 2020, and still came back to coach.

“Without basketball, I don’t know what would have happened,” said Morris, holding back emotional pangs. “The mind is a powerful thing. Basketball is a great, pleasant distraction. It helped me get through that very difficult time. We’re blessed to have great people and the facilities we have at Bensalem. I remind our kids of that they have the chance to take advantages of the opportunities we have here.

“I have a lot more than three kids and I had to tell them face-to-face what my decision was. It was difficult. It was emotional. Tough decisions have to be made when you’re a leader. Family comes first. When the kids got emotional, that was not easy for me. We preach family and that is how I ran this program. You know you hit on something when one kid, a junior, who I was on constantly, came to my room personally and had to give me a hug.

“The camaraderie of the other coaches, our coaches and players, being around the team and coaches, I’m going to miss that. I love those guys. It’s why I get emotional even talking about it. We were together all the time. We had a great tradition of Saturday morning practices and after practices, we sat around and ate doughnuts.”

Those are the priceless moments, he said, he will miss most.

Other coaches stepping down locally include Academy Park boys’ coach Todd Hryn, Conwell-Egan girls’ coach Chris Brennan and Archbishop Ryan girls’ coach Tom Dillard.

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on BlueSky here