Legendary Miami Hurricanes baseball coach Jim Morris — a two-time national champion — has been elected to the College Baseball Hall of Fame, UM announced Thursday morning.
Morris was one of 12 members to make up the hall’s 2020 class, which will be inducted in a virtual ceremony later this month.
“It’s something to be included among all the great coaches as a Hall of Famer and I’m so deeply honored,” said Morris in a statement. “It was a long journey filled with a lot of games, but I’m honored to be in this position. I couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people, from players and coaches to administrators and, of course, my family. I’m just very excited about being part of this illustrious crowd.”
In 25 seasons at Miami, Morris won 1,090 games, made the NCAA postseason 23 consecutive years, reached the College World Series 13 times and won his two national titles in 1999 and 2001. He won three ACC regular-season crowns in 2008, 2014 and 2016.
“There is perhaps no more fitting honor for Coach Morris than to be named a member of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame,” Miami director of athletics Blake James said in a statement. “Coach is college baseball. Over more than five decades in the game, he established a standard of excellence and impacted programs, coaches and players across the nation. While coach Morris is synonymous with the University of Miami for his success on the field, he was so much more than that to our University. On behalf of the entire UM family, I congratulate Coach, his wife, Nhan, and their family on this well-deserved honor.”
Coaching at Georgia Tech before Miami, Morris compiled 1,594 career wins as a Division-I head coach. The three-time national Coach of the Year and 2008 ACC Coach of the Year retired as one of only 12 coaches to reach 1,500 wins. Morris also spent his first four head coaching seasons at DeKalm (Ga.) Community College for a total of 41 seasons.
In his 25-season tenure at Miami, no program qualified for the College World Series as much as Morris and his Hurricanes. Miami made it to Omaha in 13 of Morris’ 25 seasons in Coral Gables.
Morris was inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Included among the 12 new members of the College Baseball Hall of Fame are MLB Hall of Famer Paul Molitor and catcher Jason Varitek, who played for Morris at Georgia Tech.
