Emma Talley, Joe Morris named to KHSAA Hall of Fame

Thirteen new members were named this week to enter the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, including golfer Emma Talley and Mayfield football coach Joe Morris.

Talley is a 2012 graduate of Caldwell County. She had one of the most accomplished careers in state history on the links. Talley played in seven consecutive state tournaments from 2005 through 2011. She would have won four state championships in a row, but in 2009, Talley self-reported a scorecard error that led to her disqualification. This has long been one of the best displays of character and integrity at a KHSAA state championship event. 

Talley was named Ms. Golf by the Kentucky Golf Coaches Association, and named the nation’s No. 1 recruit by Golf Week Magazine. She qualified for the U.S. Open in 2011 and 2012. The Princeton native landed a spot on the 2010 Junior Ryder Cup team, and was a 2011 1st team High School All-American. Talley went on to play at Alabama, where she was a first team All-American, won the U.S. Amateur in 2013, and captured the NCAA Championship in 2015. Talley played on the LPGA tour from 2018 until 2025.


Coach Morris took Mayfield to new heights as one of the great football programs in Kentucky history. He was the head coach for a quarter of a century from 1999-2024, and finished with a record of 299-56 a career winning percentage of 84 percent. 

Of those seasons, the Cardinals made 21 trips to the state semifinals, played in 14 state championship games, and won 7 state championships. 

From 2009-2015, the Cards played in seven consecutive state finals, winning five titles, including four in a row from 2012-2015. Morris’s final state crown was in 2023. 

Joe joins his father, Jack Morris, who was inducted into the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 1997 after winning four state championships of his own at Mayfield.


Another inductee with local roots is basketball coach Curtis Turley. He won 624 games in his career, which included two seasons at Lyon County in 1979 and 1980. His 1980 team was 28-6. Turley played high school basketball at Crittenden County.

Others included in the 2026 class are Marion County’s Makayla Epps, Gwen Doyle Howard of Louisville duPont Manual, Elizabethtown’s James Haire, Owensboro Catholic’s Jody Hamilton, Chuck Medley of Louisville St. Xavier, MC Napier’s Glenn Napier, Bell County’s Larry Pursiful, Covington Catholic’s Lynn Ray, Paintsville’s Bill Mike Runyon and the Riherd Family, who originated and maintained the KHSAA Scoreboard.

The KHSAA will induct its 2026 class on Sunday, April 26, at the Central Bank Center Ballroom in Lexington.



(AP Photo Ashley Landis)