A usual day for one Lima Memorial Health System doctor is to see his patients during the day, but then officiate a local high school game in the evening.
Dr. Dennis Morris is the Chief Medical Officer at Lima Memorial Health System, but is also an official in a variety of sports at various levels across the state of Ohio. Morris has officiated for 47 years, averaging covering 35-40 games a year.
To recognize his passion for sports and officiating, the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame has inducted Dr. Dennis Morris as part of the 2021 class.
There are a variety of memories that he can point to as his favorites, but one stands out to him.
"My favorite game and the biggest one was the Akron St. Vincent St. Mary - Cincinnati Roger Bacon game," recalled Morris. "The only tournament game that LeBron lost. It was the state championship and that year they were the runners-up. The other three years they were state champions. It was a packed Schottenstein Center, very emotional game, a lot of, you know, fan support."
The 2021 class was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame along with the 2020 class, who had to wait a year to be inducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
