MORRIS KING JR.
Tennis Bio
Morris King Jr. is a rare black world class professional tennis coach and is also the former
Advisory Coach of Venus and Serena Williams through their father, Richard Williams, during
their early pro careers (see the historic news interview of Richard Williams about why he wanted
Coach King at http://bit.ly/wms-art1 and the news announcement of Coach King's hiring at
http://bit.ly/wms-art2).
As a matter of record, Coach King has the distinction of having assisted Richard Williams with
Venus' rise to the WTA Tour's Top 10 within the first year of his contract and to her first finals of
the US Open only 3 months after having signed with Richard Williams back in 1997. When
Richard Williams sought out Coach King at the WTA Tour's former Amelia Island, Florida
tournament mentioned in the historic news article, Venus was losing in the first round of every
pro tournament for 2 years (using what many other famous coaches, like Bollettieri, Macci,
Seguso/Bassett, et al., had taught her) and it was his responsibility to turn that around. Then
came Serena's unprecedented, record 7 month rise in the WTA Tour's rankings from obscurity
to #30. The rest is history. [PLEASE NOTE: Coach King is not to be confused with Jamaican
Morris Brown, who was a hitting partner for the Williams sisters prior to King's hiring as a
COACH]
Additionally, Morris King Jr. is the coach that made muslim Bosnian refugee Amer Delic into the
stellar junior phenom that played in the prestigious Orange Bowl International Jr.
Championships' 16s draw when he was only 14; a draw that had now-former ATP Tour pro star
Marat Safin as the #2 seed and a draw that longtime ATP Tour #1 ranked Roger Federer wasn't
good enough to make. This is the same Amer Delic that went on to become an NCAA national
single's champion and an ATP touring pro. (Further details of the coaching controversy
regarding Delic can be found at http://bit.ly/del-con)
Then there was the 16 years old African kid, Edmond Dramou, from Guinea, West Africa.
Dramou was a self taught tennis player, who had never had a coach. He came to the U.S.,
sponsored by former Florida State Senator Dr. Arnett Girardeau, a long time friend of Coach
King's family. Accordingly, Coach King was asked to train Dramou. After approximately 5
months of training, Dramou, still 16, played and won a USTA / Florida Men's Open Designated
tournament in Melbourne, Florida, having defeated collegians and ATP pointed satellite pros in
route to winning the championship. (See the news article at http://bit.ly/dram-art)
Over the course of 25+ years of coaching, Coach King has privately coached many, many
players - from pros to internationally, nationally & Florida ranked Top 10 junior circuit players to
collegiate Top 10 players to even tennis teaching professionals. Coach King even spent a few
months as a volunteer Associate Head Coach at Jacksonville University (NCAA I) and has had
2
many privately trained students to receive full rides in NCAA Division I tennis (also NJCAA I),
with most starting as freshmen.
Another notable King coached student, Michael Grass, was a stellar USTA / Florida junior
player who achieved a Top 10 ranking, then went on to become the #1 player for the NCAA
Division I Jacksonville University as a freshman as well as having earned an Intercollegiate
Tennis Association (ITA) summer circuit national ranking of #8 while there. Grass ended his
collegiate career at the #1 position for the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill).
Before transferring to UNC, Mike Grass, under King’s tutelage, played the ITF Pro Circuit and
earned an ATP world point on his very first satellite block (the Florida block) at a time when
accomplishing such a remarkable feat was unheard of (this was before the current Futures
format was begun; players were required to commit to a complete block of 4 consecutive pro
tournaments).
Morris King Jr. is a former United States Tennis Association (USTA) certified Official (6 years),
having held the highest USTA certification level that one could obtain without going on the tour
full-time as well as having certified on the ITA exam for all 6 years. He also was a USTA
certified Tournament Referee (2 years) and a USTA Clinician (2 years).
Aside from tennis, Morris King Jr. is an alum of the Ivy League Columbia University and of the
University of Florida. He is a former Jacksonville, Florida City Official having served as a
Commissioner of the Jacksonville Community Relations Commission (the local government
agency that handled all complaints of various types of discrimination). He is a Paralegal (having
done his legal internship in the Public Defender's Office, 4th Judicial Circuit of Florida), a former
Hearings Officer for an agency of the State of Florida as well as the former Lead Financial
Analyst in Lending Administration (having handled primarily multi-national corporations) at the
now-defunct Florida National Bank, then the 3rd largest bank in Florida.
As a private businessman, Morris King Jr. has been involved in International Affairs consulting
and has professionally managed entertainers, models & athletes.
Musically, Morris King Jr. is a classically trained melodic percussionist, a sound reinforcement
engineer, a studio mix engineer and an avid lover of jazz (although he likes most other genres
of music).
Coach King's official website, MAGIAN World Class Tennis: http://magian10S.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @magiantennis
The official MWCT Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MagianWorldClassTennis.
His personal Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/morriskingjr
CONTACT Coach King through any of the above.