There is a new face on the Utah Starzz bench who will affect the play of the team this year without getting in a game.
Bobbi Morse is the Starzz new assistant coach, hired just before training camp to work almost exclusively with the post players. A former player herself, Morse earned a degree in business education and computers that she's never used.
Instead, she's made a living coaching the game that's become her life's passion.
Offered a job at Kaskaskia Junior College in Illinois the summer after she graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1986, Morse has embraced teaching the game as if it were in her blood. And maybe it is since she grew up watching her father, a high school teacher, coach basketball in Terre Haute, Ind.
Her father let her play on his boys team, and she still considers herself a basketball junkie. While she pursued an education, she always felt she'd make a career out of basketball.
"Since I was in high school, I always said I'd be the first female coach in the NBA," Morse said. After three years at Kaskaskia, she took the head coaching job at University of Missouri-St. Louis for four seasons. Then she began working as an assistant under various college coaches until the American Basketball League was formed.
Morse spent two years as the only assistant for the San Jose Lasers, where she helped guide the team to the 1997-98 ABL playoffs. It was there she worked with Utah point guard Jennifer Azzi.
After the ABL folded, she went back to college coaching. She'd seen the Starzz play a few times, but it wasn't until she ran into Azzi and the team at a Nike store that the Starzz knew much about Morse.
She went to dinner with Azzi and forward Adrienne Goodson and then later talked to head coach Candi Harvey about the possibility of an assistant coaching job. After Harvey signed a contract with the Starzz herself, one of the first things she did was hire Morse.
Harvey was impressed with Morse's passion for and knowledge of the game and her loyalty to her fellow coaches.
"She'd been a coach at the college and professional levels," Harvey said. "I knew I wanted someone specifically to coach the post players. She did that at San Jose. This really is the best staff I've ever had. They enjoy basketball and enjoy life."
Morse's task in Utah is to help one of the league's strongest group of post players. The athletes include veteran Adrienne Goodson and Olympian and WNBA All-Star Natalie Williams.
"She's a great post coach," Williams said. "She knows a lot more moves we can use, and it's nice to have a coach that works with us. Each game the post players set individual goals. We're always trying to improve our game."
Can even an all-star benefit from good coaching? "Even at my age, there are plenty of things to work on," Williams said.
Rookies Danielle Crockrom and Andrea Gardner said she's constantly giving them tips and helping them understand the Starzz system.
"Keep the ball in tight," Gardner repeats Morse's advice. "Always being aware of where you are. It all helps."
Backup forward and center Amy Herrig said Morse has been very helpful to her.
"She's definitely a great post coach," Herrig said. "She knows the game really well, she sets us in right positions, makes sure we box out. She's very good at the technical stuff. She knows the game; she played it."
As for assisting rather than running the show, Morse says she prefers to be one of two assistants.
"I sleep a lot better at night," she said with a grin. "I like it because I get the opportunity to present ideas, but I've never been a big fan of making decisions."
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com