Morgan Oliver joined the Elon women’s basketball staff in September 2014 to serve as the team’s director of operations. A 2013 graduate of Duke University, Oliver previously served as the head manager of the Duke women’s basketball team.
In 2015-16, the Phoenix had an 18-13 season, including an 11-7 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association, and its second straight trip to the Postseason WNIT. The postseason appearance marked the fourth in the program’s DI history and the third time in four years the Phoenix has played in a post-season tournament.
The season was highlighted by the program’s first ever win over Atlantic Coast Conference opponent North Carolina State after a 69-66 final in Raleigh, N.C. Both Shay Burnett and Lauren Brown were honored as CAA Player of the Week throughout the course of the year, while Nikki McDonald earned CAA Rookie of the Week honors. Burnett became the first Phoenix player to earn a spot on the All-CAA First Team, while Brown and Autumn Carter earned CAA All-Academic Team honors.
In its inaugural season in the CAA in 2014-15, the Phoenix to a 19-13 overall record and an 11-7 conference record. The team tied for third during the regular season and earned the No. 4 seed in the CAA Championship where the team fell just four points shy of advancing to the championship final. It marked the third straight trip to the conference tournament semifinals for the Phoenix. Elon’s outstanding regular season allowed the team to earn the school’s first ever bid to play in the WNIT.
During the season, Elon saw the freshman tandem of Burnett and Malaya Johnson earn CAA Rookie of the Week honors four and two times, respectively. Both Burnett and Johnson were later named to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Senior Sam Coffer earned the program’s first CAA Player of the Week honor and was also named to the Academic All-District First Team for the second straight year. Off the court, Coffer, Zora Stephenson and Brown were selected to the CAA All-Academic Team.
Prior to arriving at Elon, while an undergraduate of Duke, Oliver spent three seasons as a manager for the women’s basketball team. She was promoted to head manager during her senior year, which placed her in the position to oversee 12 managers and develop relationships with program donors, sponsors, coaches, faculty and staff.
Oliver assisted with scheduling and assisted with every aspect of practice, drills, filming and kept a variety of stats during the games, while also assisting with Deep South and NCAA tournaments. For her commitment to the team, she was awarded a letterman’s jacket, four varsity letters and an ACC Championship ring. During her tenure with Coach Joanne P. McCallie, the Lady Blue Devils made the Elite Eight all four years and won the ACC tournament three out of Oliver’s four years.
Since earning her degree in sociology with a focus in markets and management at Duke, Oliver started her own company Period For Good, LLC. She has given away hundreds of dollars to charities which support children, pets and education such as Ride to Give, Sunshine on a Ranney Day, Tripp Halestead, Best Friends Animal Society, Donors Choose and Relay for Life.
A native of Murphy, N.C., Oliver was a standout at Murphy High School. She graduated valedictorian and was a five-sport athlete, earning varsity letters and awards in basketball, discus, soccer, softball and cross-country. She was awarded the US Army Reserve National Scholar Athlete Award, MVP in soccer and led her cross-country team to the state championship two years in a row.
