Kelly Morrone finished her seventh season at the helm of the John Carroll program during the 2019-20 season.
Morrone's teams have made three trips to the NCAA Tournament in her first six years as head coach of the women's basketball program. Her career record at JCU sits at 117-71.
In 2019-20 Morrone guided the Blue Blue Streaks to a 23-5 overall record and a 15-3 conference record. She earned her 100th career win as the head coach of the Blue Streaks on Saturday, December 7, 2019 against Marietta College. John Carroll player accolades were lead by the Helen Ludwig OAC Player of the Year & Defensive Player of the Year Olivia Nagy, All-OAC 1st Team selection Nicole Heffington and All-OAC Honorable Mention selection Abby Adler.
In 2018-19, Morrone led the Blue Streaks to a 22-6 overall record and a 15-3 conference record. For the first time in program history, JCU outright won the OAC regular season conference championship, clinched the No. 1 seed in the OAC Tournament, and captured the OAC Tournament Championship. Morrone's team earned an automatic bid to head back to the NCAA Tournament for the third time. The Blue Streaks were led by OAC Player of the Year, sophomore Nicole Heffington and senior point guard Kahrin Spear, who was named to the All-OAC Second Team. Freshman Olivia Nagy was a big contributor for JCU in her rookie campaign, earning the title of OAC Defensive Player of the Year. For her efforts, Morrone was named OAC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career.
In 2017-18, Morrone guided JCU to a 8-18 record, and a berth in the OAC Tournament. A team comprised of young talent was headlined by freshman Nicole Heffington who earned OAC Freshman of the Year and All-OAC First Team. Morrone also guided junior Kahrin Spear to second in the OAC in assists per game.
In 2016-17, John Carroll completed the season 7-18 which was highlighted by one of the greatest scorers to wear the Blue and Gold in senior Katlyn Spahar who finished second all-time in program history in points scored in a career. Spahar earned All-OAC Second Team, and junior Shmoo Pryor earned All-OAC Honorable Mention.
In 2015-16, the Blue Streaks finished 13-13 and had clinched a berth in the OAC postseason tournament for the third consecutive year. On a team that did not have a single senior and eight freshmen that saw time on the floor, Morrone led a young team to an 8-10 record in the conference. Junior Katlyn Spahar and sophomore Sarah Cairnie accumulated postseason All-OAC honors, while Spahar was named to the d3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Third Team.
In 2014-15, Morrone led the Blue Streaks to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. Under her tutelage, JCU went 22-5, including a stellar 12-1 record at the DeCarlo Center. Three players were named to the All-OAC team, and Katlyn Spahar was named the Helen Ludwig OAC Player of the Year and earned WBCA All-American Honorable Mention.
Morrone led John Carroll on a historic season in her first year as a head coach leading the Blue and Gold to a program best 11-0 start and a 22-5 overall record.
The Blue Streaks advanced to their first-ever NCAA Tournament and won their first game topping Texas Lutheran University. JCU captured its first-ever OAC title in its 44-year history winning a share of the regular season title.
Morrone mentored senior Missy Spahar, one of three finalists for the WBCA Player of the Year award. Spahar earned All-America honors from the WBCA and D3hoops.com. The forward posted program bests in career points, career rebounds and season points.
Coach Morrone over her John Carroll career has coached two WBCA All-Americans (Missy Spahar, Katlyn Spahar), three OAC Player's of the Year (Missy Spahar, Katlyn Spahar, Nicole Heffington), two OAC Freshmen of the Year (Katlyn Spahar, Nicole Heffington), 11 All-OAC team members, and 12 All-OAC Academic team members.
Morrone made her collegiate coaching debut in 2005 as an assistant at the University of Buffalo under head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. Morrone spent three seasons at Buffalo, guiding a defense that finished second in the Mid-American Conference in field goal percentage defense and third in scoring defense in 2007-08.
From 2008-10, Morrone was the top assistant at Davidson College under head coach Annette Watts. Morrone's responsibilities included oversight of recruiting, player development, strength and conditioning and scouting.
In 2011-12, Morrone was part of the staff at the University of Rhode Island under head coach Cathy Inglese. During her tenure at Rhode Island, Morrone served as the Rams' Recruiting Coordinator where she spearheaded the 2012 class of six signees, including a national top-100 player. On the court, Morrone was the perimeter coach for the Rams as her duties included offensive-coordinator, skill instruction, game preparation, scouting and organizing pre and post-season workouts.
For the 2012-13 campaign, Morrone joined the staff at William & Mary, where she was reunited with Debbie Taylor, the coach that recruited her as a player at the University of South Carolina.
A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Morrone attended the University of South Carolina and was a four-year letterwinner and three-year captain on the Lady Gamecocks basketball team. During her playing career, she helped guide the Gamecocks to two NCAA Tournament appearances, which included an overall record of 25-7 and a trip to the Elite Eight in 2002. South Carolina finished the 2001-02 campaign ranked sixth in the nation.
Morrone graduated from South Carolina in 2003 with a degree in sport and entertainment management. She minored in business and was a four-year Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll team representative.
