ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609090117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
FORMER SALEM STAR moves up basketball's coaching ladder.
Richard Morgan, a former Salem High School basketball standout who became a first-team All-ACC player at Virginia, has received his first college coaching job.
Morgan, most recently an assistant under his brother at Salem, has accepted a position on the staff at Hampton University.
``My goal is, in five or six years, to be a Division I head coach,'' said Morgan, 29, who fills the post previously held by Bobby Collins.
Collins joined the staff of new Belmont Abbey head coach Dip Metress, another ex-Hampton University assistant.
The NCAA has eliminated the ``restricted-earnings'' designation from the third assistant, but Hampton's other two assistants will recruit off campus.
``I got up at 4:30 this morning,'' said Morgan, who supervises conditioning drills and assists in individual workouts. ``I'm loving it.''
Morgan became familiar with Hampton head coach Byron Samuels when Samuels, who was an assistant at North Carolina-Wilmington, was recruiting Mark Byington for the Seahawks.
``Little did I know that Mark Byington being recruited in Salem would have an impact on me,'' Morgan said. ``I was hoping that somebody would take a chance on me.''
Morgan served as head coach at Andrew Lewis Middle School and with the junior varsity at Salem and had a three-year record of 44-7.
``I had resigned from my job as a teacher's aide at Salem and some people were wondering, `What are you going to do without a job?''' Morgan said. ``But this was something I wanted to devote all my energy to.''
Morgan is the third Division I assistant to have worked under his brother, Charlie, at Salem. Ex-Spartan assistants Ramon and Damon Williams are at VMI and Western Carolina, respectively.
LENGTH: Short : 42 linesby CNB