Love of Sport, Dedication, Excellence: Morton-Rozier and PSUGA Athletics

Korie Morton-Rozier will tell anyone who asks that it is her favorite picture…the one where she is standing beside her father and sister, Quinn, just after the Woodland Hills High School Wolverines won the 1997 WPIAL Women’s Basketball title. To this day, Morton-Rozier’s record is still at the top of all the athletic awards won by the district.

Now, she keeps that photographic memory close to her mind and heart while she makes new memories cheering on not just basketball but soccer, golf, baseball, and volleyball for the 130+ young men and women who call Penn State Greater Allegheny (PSUGA) their athletic home. Morton-Rozier is just one of six women who hold the title of athletic director at Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses, a role she has held for nearly a decade.

“My father was a war hero and a very well-known high school football coach around the area and he also played professional baseball for the Cincinnati Reds,” Morton-Rozier recalled.”

“Growing up, my sister and I were at all the football practices at Central Catholic and I saw how much time and dedication goes into being a good coach/player. We saw him touch so many lives and change so many lives for the better through sports…I believe this is where I learned my work ethic…from watching him coach and prepare for games,” she added.

Morton-Rozier found that she had a love for being a part of all sports, rather than just one. She took part in softball, basketball and soccer, although basketball was by far her favorite.

She was extremely talented on the court and became the lead scorer at Woodland Hills for both men and women, with a total of 1,964 points, in addition to receiving numerous accolades for points and rebounds at other levels, too.

“I had a Division I basketball scholarship to Robert Morris University,” she said, but injuries cut short her collegiate career there and “I transferred to
Edinboro University where I finished out my career,” Morton-Rozier said. She had no regrets. “We had a great run…I loved every minute of it.”

While in college, she earned a degree in management, later becoming one of the youngest Quad A head basketball coaches in the WPIAL at the time, then was promoted to assistant athletic director at Woodland Hills, where she said she “found her “niche.”

Her legacy in athletics—as a coach and administrator–at Woodland Hills includes the girls basketball team for 11 seasons, where she helped lead the Wolverines to seven WPIAL Class AAAA playoff appearances.

“It was then that I realized I could reach student-athletes and gain their respect with my accomplishments on the court and I could relate to their struggles on and off the field,“ she said. “I love the opportunity to watch student-athletes grow and become successful young men and women and I really enjoyed the relationships made with the coaches, the other teams, and their parents.”

Then came the opportunity to head the athletic program at PSUGA.

She grew up in the Mon Valley and loved the community and she recalls, as a child, playing basketball on the courts at the campus through the AAU (American Athletic Union) program. When this opportunity to become athletic director was presented to her, Morton-Rozier knew she could not pass it up because, she said, “Who wouldn’t want to be a part of Penn State!”

This past fall semester, the PSUGA women’s volleyball team became PSUAC (Penn State University Athletic Conference) champions and placed fourth in nationals for the first time. The men’s soccer team also made a playoff appearance.

“I think we are setting ourselves up for a good couple years ahead of us with all the new kids we brought in,” Morton-Rozier said.

Sometimes, there are also difficult decisions to make, such as the demise of the campus track and field program last year. Morton-Rozier said it was a budgetary decision. “Our athletes were great and we thank them for all they did for the program.”

The student-athletes on campus now comprise approximately 30% of the entire student body. As an athlete, motivation is a key part of the sport.

Morton-Rozier said the administration believes that the athletic program is vital to help the students grow as adults and become leaders on and off campus. It also helps that they are not just a team, but a family, she added.

“At Penn State, we believe that our athletic programs are vital parts of the total educational system,” Morton-Rozier said. “A lot of our athletes have become leaders on campus as well as positive role models in the community. The impact you can have in education and sports is amazing,” she said.

“Sometimes you never know the impact you have on others until they see you years later and tell you ‘thanks for believing in me…you changed my life,’” she added.

While Morton-Rozier does not engage in sports actively due to her previous injuries and surgeries, she also sees the future through her twin daughters who are following in their mother’s and grandfather’s footsteps with their interest in basketball.

“Now I work with them and coach their 5th-grade team at Gateway!” she said.

News Editor, Carlin Whalen (cjw6426@psu.edu), also contributed to this story.