The PSAL Boy's Basketball Czar
We can all agree that Dwayne “Tiny” Morton is anything if not resilient. Starting out as a star college basketball player, Morton evolved into one of the most successful head coaches in New York high school basketball, taking Abraham Lincoln H.S. to multiple city and state championships and almost single handedly putting Coney Island on the map.
Morton then tried his hand on the Division I College level, becoming an assistant coach at Seton Hall before once again returning to the high school circuit. "Cat" might be the better nickname for Morton as he seems to both have nine lives and the ability to always land on his feet. NYCHoops.net has just learned that Morton has been elevated to one the highest levels of the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL).
With the sudden passing of longtime PSAL Executive Director Donald Douglas in 2021, legendary Coach Ray Haskins was promoted to that role. “[Haskins] being a huge mentor to me, he practically saved my career before I had a career,” said Morton. “So when I had a desire to help him and the PSAL, I think he already had me penciled in [for the job].”
According to Morton, Haskins hired him to the #2 spot and gave him the title of Basketball Czar. “My responsibility is to oversee the aspects of [PSAL] boys’ basketball.”
One of the recent changes in PSAL boys’ basketball under Morton is the abolition of Class AA divisions. All PSAL teams will either be classified as A or B. “After analyzing what the “AA” was meant for, we didn’t feel it benefited our league as a whole,” Morton explained.
"We just put the league back to what it used to. The [Class] "AA" was an experiment and teams were asked to join. The goal of our league is to educate in physical fitness, character development, and socialization skills through an athletic program. I feel we lost our neighborhood rivalries, our communities refuse to travel across town to route for our teams. The [Class] AA focused too much on just the basketball aspect."
In an effort to increase player and team visibility, Morton said that the PSAL will have Team and Player exposure camps much like those run by the CHSAA. On September 17th, there will be an all-day exposure camp for the top 150 players in the league held at Achievement First Charter H.S. in Brooklyn.
