Class of 2016
GLEN MILES • Three-time All-American midfielder
at Navy
• USILA MacLaughlin Award winner in 1986
• 1990 U.S. team gold medalist
“The people that are already in the Hall of Fame are people that I looked up to when I was younger and in my eyes were the legends of the game,” Mike Morrill said. “To be the third generation inducted is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s a great honor.”
Despite his illustrious career, Mike Morrill wasn’t sure he’d get in. So when he first got the call from Rick Lake, senior manager of the men’s game at US Lacrosse, he thought it was a prank from his former Johns Hopkins teammates. He even checked the US Lacrosse website to verify Lake’s number. It took a while for the news to set in.
“I kept it quiet for about 24 hours until I was sure it was true,” Mike Morrill said. “I was not expecting any of this and was floored by it.” For Bill Morrill Jr., the man who would diagram plays with a ketchup bottle and salt and pepper shakers after Mike’s games, the news came as no surprise. Morrill Jr. may have starred at Johns Hopkins from 1957- 59, but he remained invested in the program until the 1980s, when his son played — just like Kelso Morrill did before him.
“My father used to have to leave the games he got so nervous,” Bill Morrill Jr. said. “When I watched Michael, I’d go to the top of the stadium to try to get away from everybody and just sit by myself. It was great once the game was over, but it was hard during the game.”
laxmagazine.com
“It was harder on you than it was for me during the games,” Mike Morrill interjected. “I got to play.” Both Morrill men are adamant that they would not be Hall of Famers if they did not play on world-class teams. But it’s always been a family affair. Mike Morrill credits his father with his development as a player. Bill Morrill Jr. does the same with his father, who had him with a stick in hand at practice with his Johns Hopkins players at age 3. Now it’s Mike Morrill’s turn to share the family wisdom. With his sons, Zeke, a sophomore at Georgetown, and Jackson, a Yale commit, and his 12-year- old daughter Garrison all playing lacrosse, he has had plenty of time to play the role of teacher. “I spent a lot of time while they were growing up in the backyard, doing the same kinds of things my dad did with me,” he said. “I knew I was successful when they would grab me and say, ‘Hey Dad. Can we go shoot on the goal out back?’” Could the Morrills make it a fourth generation? It will be decades before we know. The family’s influence already spans nearly 100 years. “We’re not the first family of lacrosse,” Mike Morrill said, referencing the Gaits, Powells and Thompsons, among others. “There’s no way.” For the Morrills, it was never about acclaim. It was always about family.
MIKE MORRILL • Two-time All-American attackman at Johns
Hopkins
• Blue Jays’ top scorer in 1987 and 1988; NCAA titles in 1985 and 1987 • Two-time world champion with 1990 and 1994 U.S. teams
ROB SHEK • Two-time All-American midfielder
at Towson
• USILA MacLaughlin Award winner in 1991 • Two-time gold medalist with Team USA (1994 and 1998)
JOHN TUCKER
• Three-time All-American midfielder at Towson (1981-82) and Johns Hopkins (1984) • Won three world titles with Team USA (1986, 1990 and 1994) • NLL Hall of Famer was pro indoor MVP in 1987 and 1989
2016 HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY
When: Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. Eastern Where: The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. Tickets: $140 general public, $50 Hall of Famers Web:
USLacrosse.org/HOF
September/october 2016 » LACROSSE MAGAZINE 19
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