Dwayne (Tiny) Morton says he left Seton Hall and returned to high school job to 'save Lincoln'
BY
Daniel Popper
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, November 28, 2015, 9:38 PM
Ron Antonelli/New York Daily News
Dwayne Morton left Lincoln for just one season to become an assistant coach at Seton Hall but he's back this season and says he made move to 'save Lincoln.'
Dwayne (Tiny) Morton paced the sideline like a lion stalking his prey, up and back, up and back, deliberate yet energetic. He screamed obscenities, directed traffic and pumped his fists. He pleaded with anyone who’d listen, applauded with anyone who’d join and stomped his feet - making sure to stop every so often to pop a peanut M&M into his mouth.
It was a brisk November night in Brooklyn, and Morton was back in his element, coaching the Abraham Lincoln High School basketball team in an exhibition game. The question is, why? Just months ago, Morton was pursuing his dream of a college career. He was an assistant at Seton Hall. Then, abruptly, he picked up and left to return to Lincoln, where he’d spent two decades building a New York City basketball powerhouse. The decision was shrouded in mystery.
Until now, that is.
“Lincoln wasn’t going up,” Morton told the Daily News. “I came back, really, to save Lincoln.”
“The timing wasn’t right for me in terms of just knowing what I was leaving. There’s a lot of things I can’t say. But I don’t think I was leaving my foundation in a good state. I didn’t think that I was losing more leaving college. I think I was losing more leaving what I left at Lincoln, in the situation it was in.”
Morton provided myriad other reasons for why he made the unorthodox move back to Lincoln, one he made of his own accord. He missed working with the kids both on the court and in the classroom. He’s back teaching math, now at P.S. 90 in Brooklyn.
Morton also disliked his lack of responsibility as an assistant and talked to a mentor, Kevin Keatts, now the head coach at UNC Wilmington, who said it’s okay to take a step back to go forward.
Above all else, though, Morton was worried about his legacy - eight PSAL titles, three state titles, a number of NBA alumni, and many more Division 1 talents.
Morton didn’t think last year’s head coach, Kenny Pretlow, an assistant under Morton for 12 years at Lincoln, was up for the challenge. Pretlow was technically a volunteer assistant but ran the program.
“I don’t think last year some of those guys got the coaching that they should have gotten. No disrespect to anyone, but KP was on the job training, also, as a head coach,” said Morton, who has plans to return to college in the future. “That was his first year really coaching with all that pressure. So most of those guys really didn’t get all they could have got out of that first year, for all the wrong reasons.”
Pretlow sees things differently.
Yes, his Lincoln group lost to Thomas Jefferson in the Brooklyn Borough championship game and got bounced in the PSAL quarterfinals by Boys and Girls High School. But they finished the season 25-4 and only lost one regular-season league game in one of the toughest divisions in the country, Brooklyn AA.
“I don’t see how you can argue with the season that I had with Lincoln last year,” Pretlow told the News. “You think that Lincoln basketball was down last year? 25-4? Tied for the division? I don’t know how Lincoln basketball went down last year.”
“I’ll stand by my record.”
Pretlow was also clear that he isn’t comfortable with how his firing unfolded.
Pearl Gabel
Kenny Pretlow defends his record at Lincoln after new/old coach Dwayne Morton says he returned to Coney Island because program was not headed in right direction.
On a Sunday in late August, Lincoln wrapped up an undefeated summer by winning the Dean Street tournament. Days later, Pretlow said he received a call from Morton, who told him he was leaving Seton Hall to come back to Lincoln.
Confused, Pretlow called Lincoln. The administration told him nothing had been discussed about Tiny returning.
But in reality, Pretlow said, Morton had already started coaching Lincoln’s workouts. It was then Pretlow realized he’d been usurped.
To this day, Pretlow claims no one from the Lincoln athletic department has called to discuss the situation or inform him of his firing.
Lincoln athletic director Renan Ebeid, meanwhile, denied Pretlow’s assertions.
“It wasn’t handled fairly. It wasn’t handled right,” Pretlow said. “That much I do know.”
Seniors Jahlil Tripp and Cahiem Brown said one day Morton walked into a summer workout in the Lincoln gym, after the Dean Street tournament, and introduced himself as the new head coach. For the players, there was a fine line between excitement and nervousness.
After all, they were now under the tutelage of a Brooklyn basketball legend.
“I was actually surprised, like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this really happening?’” Brown said. “We was working straight from there. No time for games. We got a statement to make.”
After months of head clearing, Pretlow accepted an assistant-coaching job with Jefferson in October. He’s also working as an attendance aid at Brooklyn Law and Tech while helping run the basketball program there.
Jefferson and Lincoln will meet twice this season, on Jan. 9 and Feb. 2.
Pretlow wouldn’t comment on whether he plans to speak with Morton at either game.
“I don’t really want to respond too much about the KP situation,” Morton said when asked what it’d be like seeing Pretlow on another sideline. “But good luck to him, man.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/high-school/tiny-left-seton-hall-save-lincoln-article-1.2449301
Zach Braziller @NYPost_Brazille 1m1 minute ago East Rutherford, NJ 
