By Kayden Breedlove
Morris Denton (BSHPE 58), winner in his age group of the gold medal for the National Senior Games held in August in Des Moines, Iowa, hasn’t slowed down in the game of tennis.
As an Oxford native, Denton has seen the city grow and evolve. He attended the first public school administered by a university.
“It’s the first high school in the nation that was a public school administered by a university. There were private schools, but this was the first public school,” Denton said. “The chancellor hired our principal. The [students] who were going to be teachers taught under our teachers.”
It was here that Denton’s passion for tennis first began. In his freshman year of high school, there was only a football field and a dusty path of flat land with two basketball goals set up. He describes his first coach’s determination, telling the team that, “they would have a court one way or another.” With combined effort from his team, Denton and his team transformed that space into a tennis court.
“He had us scrape up all of that grass that was up there, and he made us a dirt, not a clay, but a dirt tennis court,” Denton said.
He eventually got more into the game, learning from his coach and playing with his team, but he also took pointers from the tennis team at the university.
“I would go out to Ole Miss and watch the guys practice,” he said. “Then I’d go home and hit the ball up against my garage trying to picture myself as the guy that I thought was the best. I don’t know if he was hitting it right or not, but I thought he looked the best.”
After playing tennis and football throughout high school, Denton eventually had to consider college and where he wanted to go. He initially attended Lipscomb University for his freshman year, playing on their tennis team. Denton eventually migrated back home to Ole Miss for his sophomore year after urging from his friends.
At the end of his sophomore year, he decided the best decision was to serve his two years in the U.S. Army and then head home.
“I played football for a team in Sendai, Japan, while I was deployed,” Denton said. “And I ran track. I played for all but three months of my service; so I played sports the entire time except for those three months.”
After finishing his service in the army, Denton returned to Oxford to finish his degree. He played tennis with the 1957 and 1958 teams at Ole Miss.
“I continued playing tennis after graduation because it was nice to get out, and I played good tennis,” Denton said. “Then when children started to come, along with really good jobs, I just didn’t play as much. But it was nice to get out occasionally and play.”
Though there was a period where he wasn’t playing as much, the pull of the sport brought him back to the game. After his kids got older and didn’t require as much attention, Denton started playing again.
Alongside tennis, running track also made a strong comeback into Denton’s life after some friends convinced him to enter a few races. Denton said that he’s always had good speed, so he put that speed to use and tackled half-marathons and 10k and 5k runs. After qualifying in the 800M and 1500M races for the state, he had an earlier opportunity to participate in the Senior Olympics.
“I did extremely well,” Denton said. “I actually qualified in 1993 to participate in the Senior Olympics back then, but for track, not for tennis.”
After an injury to his foot prior to the competition, Denton was unable to participate. He instead turned to rehab, aiming to strengthen his foot again and get back to the game.
Now, Denton continues to play, not only for the love of tennis, but to keep in shape for both himself and his family.
“I play tennis Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” he said. “I work out Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I don’t play tennis to get in shape. I get in shape to play tennis.”
Both Denton and his wife, Carolyn, work out in their home gym every week.
“We had two little girls that were very active,” Denton said. “My wife and I talked about it and came to a decision: We wanted to try and stay healthy enough to enjoy their children. So why do I do all that I do? Simple answer: It makes everything else in my life easier.”
Being able to play football and tennis with your grandchildren is not a feat many can boast about when they are in their nineties, but Denton proudly can. For both his family and for tennis itself, he continues his consistent routine. When asked if he had thought about continuing to compete professionally, Denton acknowledged that he wasn’t fully sure what path he wanted to take.
“I want to keep playing, I think,” Denton said. “I’m asking myself, ‘How much do I still want to compete?’ Because if I do, you can’t just decide all of a sudden you want to go play in the tournament. You have to stay ready, you have to practice. I’ve done well and have proven that I can play anyone my age. So, I want to just enjoy the guy that put me here and still have fun. Right now, I don’t have a definitive answer [on if I want to continue competing]. But it’s one that you can tell I’m thinking about.”
Denton encouraged playing a sport to foster community and activity. For a piece of advice, he turned his gaze to the bigger picture of life.
Holding out his pointer finger and thumb with a small inch of space between them, he said, “This much effort is all that it takes to not fit in. Most people won’t give that effort because they don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb, but they have a passion that they neglect in order to fit in.
“But if you’re passionate about it, I would say give it your best effort. Give that little extra bit of effort and pursue what you really have an interest in.”
