Morgan Mayse, a member of the Athens High School class of 2007, was inducted Thursday, Dec. 5 into the Athens ISD Athletic Hall of Fame. A multi-year All-District MVP in basketball and three-time state medalist in the high jump, Morgan went on to make a name for herself playing ball at Rice University.
“I was a happy kid with a good childhood,” said Morgan. “And I was very busy. ... I played basketball, softball, gymnastics; I was a busy, busy kid.”
Morgan started kindergarten at Bel Air Elementary, and by middle school, she had established herself not only as a good student, but an excellent athlete. In high school, she played on the varsity basketball team all four years. She used her 6-1 height and a considerable amount of hustle to her advantage.
“I never liked not being good at things,” she said.
As a junior, Morgan was named MVP on the All-District 14-4A Girls Basketball Team. Her senior year, she averaged 18.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game. As a senior, she was again chosen as district MVP, as well as being named Player of the Year on the All-Henderson County Area Team, First Team All-East Texas, and Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-State Team. Her performance was critical in leading the Lady Hornets to secure the district title with a perfect 10-0 record on their way to reaching the regional quarterfinals.
But before Morgan became known for her basketball skills, she had already claimed a spotlight in track and field. Her freshman year, discovering she had an aptitude for the high jump, Morgan advanced to regionals. “I didn’t place, but I made it. That’s when I realized, ‘Oh, this might be serious.” The next three years, she medaled in high jump at the state championship meet, winning bronze, gold and silver, respectively. Her gold-medal jump measured 5 feet, 9 inches.
Although she attracted college recruiters for both sports, Morgan preferred being part of a team. So it was that, just before graduating Athens High School in 2007, she signed with Rice University to play basketball. It was a winning decision.
Morgan became one of only three players her freshman year at Rice to see action in all 32 games for the season. She started 62 games over her final two seasons. During her career, Morgan played in 124 games. Her senior season, she shot for double digits in 19 games, was a third-team All-Conference USA selection, and earned a spot on the conference’s All-Academic Team. She graduated ranked 10th all-time in Rice women’s basketball with 1,080 career points.
Graduating in 2011 with a degree in kinesiology, Morgan knew it was time to take the next step toward the career goal she’d had since high school: dentistry. For the next year and a half, she attended UT Arlington to finish her prerequisites for dental school. From 2013 to 2017, she attended Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas (now part of the Texas A&M system) and completed a year of residency at the VA hospital in Temple. Today she works in corporate dentistry in Dallas.
“Sports led me from an early age toward success,” said Morgan. “It helped me as a small-town kid to have big dreams.”