Local tennis player brings home the gold

Published 3:02 pm Monday, August 4, 2025

Morris Denton took home the gold this weekend at the National Senior Games in Des Moines, Iowa.

It’s far from the first time he’s worn a gold medal.

Denton, who turns 91 in September, played in high school at the former University High School in Oxford. After he graduated in the 1950s, he attended Lipscomb University for his freshman year but returned to Oxford to attend Ole Miss for his sophomore year.

After serving in the U.S. Army for two years, Denton once again returned to Oxford and Ole Miss in 1957 and was on Ole Miss’s 1957-58 tennis team. 

Denton said his secret to staying fit is to keep moving and to keep playing, even when some days it might be hard to do.