Longtime basketball coach back in the game with new role at Illinois Valley Central
Brianna Morrow couldn’t ignore the call to be a head coach again.
Morrow is the new Illinois Valley Central girls basketball coach, taking over the role in late May and attempting to rebuild the once proud small-school program. The former Metamora head coach had spent the previous two seasons on the IVC boys staff, being an assistant to her husband, Quinn.
“Yes, I have missed being a head coach,” Morrow said, “and I’ve missed girls basketball, for sure. I enjoyed the boys, and I’ve enjoyed coaching my kids, but I have missed that."
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When Morrow’s husband’s sister-in-law, Alisha Morrow, resigned as IVC girls basketball coach after three seasons, the school's athletics director Dan Camp came directly to Brianna, an IVC special education teacher, to gauge her interest. Camp wanted the former head coach at Moweaqua Central A&M and Decatur St. Teresa to take over a team that just eight girls in the entire program and went 12-17 overall and 5-3 in the Illini Prairie Conference.
So, Morrow called a family meeting to see what her sons, Kai, Koi and Kael, thought about their mom taking this job. It ended up being a resounding yes from all three of her boys.
“This is what’s best for the program,” said Morrow, noting she’ll still be able to see the boys team play. “Continuing to have some consistency at the junior high and high school level, I think, will be huge to help build this program.”
In late April 2021, Morrow resigned from Metamora following seven seasons and 96 victories. Her family was living in Chillicothe, and the 40-minute back-and-forth drive caused her to miss several of her kids’ events.
Ultimately, it took a toll not only on her family but also the Redbirds.
“I just didn’t feel like I could give the girls at Metamora the time and energy that they deserved,” Morrow said, “and I felt like I couldn’t give my family (the same).”
Paul Mercer had spent 21 seasons at IVC, winning 344 games and hoisting 10 regional plaques, including a streak of eight in a row from 2000-2007. His 2005 team made a run to the Class A Elite Eight as part of eight 20-win seasons during those two decades.
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But the Grey Ghosts have gone 14 years without a regional championship, last winning a Class 2A title in 2009. Since the 2012-2013 season, IVC has had five head coaches and posted a 72-220 (.245) record in those 11 years.
The lack of numbers has caused Morrow to try and get more players interested in coming out for the team, while coaching a lot more of the basics as well as basketball fundamentals. There’s hope that a junior varsity team will emerge for the 2023-2024 season.
In fact, Morrow will also be the junior high coach for the Chillicothe Elementary Center-Mossville co-op — a team that won a 7-3A regional last year. This is part of her plan to help bring some enthusiasm to the younger levels.
“We really just want to keep that going,” she said.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IVC hires former Metamora coach Brianna Morrow to lead girls basketball
