VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Photo Credit- UConn Athletic Comm.

Colchester

Basketball

Inducted 2023

A two-time Burlington Free Press ‘Miss Basketball’ and Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year, Morgan Valley led Rice Memorial High School to back-to-back undefeated seasons in her junior and senior years before heading to perennial Division I power Connecticut where she was a reserve on three NCAA title-winning teams.  

Valley helped develop Rice into a dynasty in the 1990s as the Little Indians captured back-to-back undefeated seasons in her junior (24-0 in 1998-99) and senior (23-0 in 1999-2000) years.  She was a starter in every game for all four years and finished with a school mark 1,363 points.  She also set Rice records for assists (477) and steals (385) and was second at the time in rebounds (776). 

Playing alongside her younger sister Ashley, the Little Indians beat perennial power Essex in both D-I titles games, after losing to the Hornets in the 1998 championship. She also was an all-state soccer goalie and as a senior, she helped lead Rice to a shutout win over high-scoring CVU in the 1999 Division I title game at Centennial Field.

Valley was heavily recruited by over 150 Division I colleges, and she accepted a scholarship offer from Geno Auriemma at UConn, and went to play 108 games over four seasons (2000-04). Valley was part of a Huskies program that won national championships in 2002 (undefeated), 2003 and 2004.  She finished her career with 282 points and 263 rebounds as the Huskies posted a record of 139-8. Her sister Ashley joined her in Storrs in the fall of 2001. 

She began her coaching career as a student assistant coach at UConn in 2004-05 under Auriemma and went on to serve as an assistant at Holy Cross (2005-07), New Hampshire (2007-08), Towson (2008-10), UMass (2010-14), Virginia Tech (2014-15), Washington (2015-17) and Arizona (2017-19). She spent two seasons as the head coach at Hartford of the America East before returning in the summer of 2021 to her alma mater as a full-time assistant.

In addition to her induction in the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame, she will be inducted into the VPA Hall of Fame in 2023, and was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.