| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1934-06-13)June 13, 1934 Hyden, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 2019(2019-09-29) (aged 85) Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Stivers (Dayton, Ohio) |
| College | Louisville (1953–1957) |
| NBA draft | 1957: 2nd round, 15th overall pick |
| Selected by the Syracuse Nationals | |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career | 1957–1966 |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1957–1966 | Stebbins HS |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com | |
James E. Morgan (June 13, 1934 – September 29, 2019) was an American basketball player and race horse trainer.[1] He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals and won a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship in 1956. Morgan was selected by the Syracuse Nationals in the 1957 NBA draft but never played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a high school teacher and basketball coach in Ohio until he became a horse trainer in the mid-1960s. Morgan was one of Ohio's leading horse trainers over a 40-year career.
Morgan was born on June 13, 1934, in Hyden, Kentucky, as one of seven children to parents William and Mae Morgan.[1] He spent his early life living with his family in a two-room log cabin that had no electricity or running water until it was burnt down when sparks jumped from a wood fire.[2] During the early 1940s, Morgan and his family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where his father worked at a Delco Electronics factory.[2]
Morgan attended Stivers High School in Dayton and led the team to a No. 1 state ranking in the early 1950s.[1][3] Morgan opted to play for the Louisville Cardinals over offers from the Kentucky Wildcats and his hometown Dayton Flyers.[3][4] He scored 1,105 points in four seasons played with the Cardinals.[3] The Cardinals won the 1956 National Invitation Tournament when they defeated the Dayton Flyers.[2]
Morgan was selected by the Syracuse Nationals as the 15th overall pick in the 1957 NBA draft but opted to not sign with the team after they offered him a $5,000 contract.[2] He was a social studies teacher and basketball coach at Stebbins High SchoolinRiverside, Ohio, for nine seasons.[1][4]
Morgan resigned from Stebbins in 1966 so he could pursue a longtime dream and became a race horse trainer which he had first become interested in when he worked as an usher at the Churchill Downs racetrack in 1953.[3][2] Morgan was one of the most successful Thoroughbred trainersinthe Midwest and won over 300 stakes races to make him the winningest stakes trainer in Ohio.[3][2] His horses amassed 1,993 total wins and made earnings of $20.7 million from 1967 to 2008.[3] Morgan served as president of the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, and a trustee in the Thoroughbred's Horsemen's Health Fund from 1998 until his death.[3]
Morgan was inducted into the Louisville Cardinals Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981,[5] the Stivers Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006,[4] and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.[6] He had his No. 12 jersey honored by the Louisville Cardinals and it hangs in the rafters of Freedom Hall.[3][4]
Morgan had two children.[1] Two of his brothers were collegiate athletes at Morehead State University: Mickey on the basketball team and Tom on the football team.[2]
Morgan survived a serious heart attack in 1993 and continued working despite being recommended to retire by a doctor.[2]
Morgan died at the age of 85 from a suspected heart attack in Dayton on September 29, 2019.[3] He was buried in his family's plot at Deerfield Cemetery in South Lebanon, Ohio.[2]
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