Angel Morris Receives Life Saver Award for Care of Thomas Robinson

Oct. 7, 2011

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Angel Morris, mother of former Kansas basketball players Marcus and Markieff Morris, was honored by the Headquarters Counseling Center with its first ever Life Saver Award at a ceremony held at Maceli’s Friday night.

Morris received the award for her caring support for KU forward Thomas Robinson after the sudden death of his mother and for her support for other members of the KU basketball team. On its website, HQCC said Morris’ sacrifice and selfless actions embodied the organization’s mission to provide unconditional life support to those in crisis.

Kansas men’s basketball assistant coach Kurtis Townsend introduced Morris to receive the award and said that her hospitality and kindness helped fill a void for the players when they came to Lawrence.

“Angel has meant so much to our program,” said Townsend. “She was kind of the designated team mom. I would call our guys on the phone to see what they were doing, and they would be hanging over at Angel’s house with the twins. She would cook for them and give them that motherly love that they missed when they left home to come here.”

However, Townsend said what moved him the most was what Morris did to help comfort Robinson in his greatest time of need after his mother died suddenly in January after he had already lost two grandparents earlier that month.

“When somebody goes through something and they’re suffering, the real human being comes out,” said Townsend. “The next day (after Robinson’s mother passed away) when I heard the story, it brought me to tears how much Angel and all of the moms got together, rallied around Thomas and made him feel like he had family. That story the guys told me about how they just sat up and cried and hugged meant a lot more than the game of basketball that day.”

Morris was very gracious in receiving the award, saying she would not have changed a thing about what she did in that time of crisis and that she would have done it for anyone that she knew. She also declared that she would start going into Headquarters to volunteer for the counseling organization when she had some free time in Lawrence.

For more than 40 years, Headquarters Counseling Center has been in the community to provide free and confidential counseling, education and information 24 hours a day, every day of the year.