Jake Morton joined Ray Harper's staff in 2016, who he coached under at Western Kentucky, after serving the past two seasons at Coppin State as an assistant coach. A veteran to the Division I coaching ranks, Morton brings experience to JSU from CSU, WKU, James Madison and his alma mater of Miami.
Morton is part of a coaching staff that has averaged 20 wins per year since arriving in Jacksonville and twice broken the record for the program’s Division I single-season wins mark. Over the past five seasons, Jacksonville State has tallied 98 wins and appeared in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament each year. JSU is one of only three programs to qualify for the league’s postseason in each of the last five seasons.
Morton helped guide the Gamecocks to a program-best 24 wins in 2018-19, breaking Jacksonville State’s single-season wins total for a second year in a row. It marked the first time the program logged three straight seasons with 20-or-more wins since joining the Division I ranks. In addition, the 2018-19 season set a record-low for losses. Prior to the season, a JSU team had never finished a year with single-digits in the loss column.
In 2017-18, JSU scored a then-record 23 wins with Morton’s guidance. The Gamecocks qualified for their second national postseason tournament with a berth in the College Basketball Invitational. Jax State claimed wins over Canisius and Central Arkansas in the first and quarterfinal rounds, respectively, en route to its first ever wins in a major postseason tournament.
His first season at Jacksonville State saw the program earn its first Division I title, first appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first 20-win season since 2003. After being picked dead-last in the OVC Preseason Poll, the Gamecocks rattled off consecutive wins over Southeast Missouri, Belmont and UT Martin as the No. 4 seed to win the OVC Championships title. JSU went on to play Louisville in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
He spent the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons on the sidelines at Coppin State under head coach Michael Grant. With Morton on staff, the Eagles ranked among the national leaders in 3=point shooting, turnovers forced and offensive rebounding.
He went to CSU from Western Kentucky, where he coached under Harper in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, taking both of those Hilltopper teams to the NCAA Tournament.
His first season in Bowling Green saw Harper take over the program midway through the season and turn the season around, rallying to win the Sun Belt Tournament and then defeating Mississippi Valley State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Morton was at his alma mater in Coral Gables from 2008-11, when he helped the Hurricanes ton three 20-win seasons and three postseason berths, including a win in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
Before returning to his alma mater, Morton worked three seasons as an assistant coach at James Madison under head coach Dean Keener from 2005-07. Prior to joining the JMU staff, Morton was an assistant coach at St. Francis (Pa.) from 2001-04 and spent the 1999-2000 campaign at Division II Bowie State.
Morton graduated from Miami in 1993 with a degree in general studies. As a player for the Hurricanes, he tallied 909 points, 245 rebounds and 194 assists from 1988-93. His name is scattered throughout the Hurricane record books, as he ranks ninth in Miami history in three-pointers (136), 10th in three-pointers attempted (390) and 14th in career three-point field goal percentage (.349).
During the 1989-90 season, Morton recorded a team-high 45 steals while averaging 11.0 points per game as a sophomore. That same season, he garnered the team’s “Hustle Award” at the end of the season – an honor he would earn again following the 1991-92 season – and was named the team’s defensive player of the year three separate times.
Following his playing career at Miami, Morton went on to play professionally in Israel for six years.
Morton’s coaching career began in New York, where he served as a counselor and coach at the Five-Star Basketball Camp, which included future collegiate and NBA stars such as Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul.
He has three children: daughter Alexis and sons Jalen and Joshua.
Updated June 2021
