Morgan Bayard Wootten was an American high school basketball coach for 46 seasons at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.
21 Facts About Morgan Wootten
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Morgan Wootten led the Stags to five national championships and 33 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles.
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Morgan Wootten grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended Gonzaga College High School and Montgomery Blair High School, from which he graduated in 1950.
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Morgan Wootten enrolled at Montgomery College and in 1951 began coaching baseball, football, and basketball at St Joseph's Home and School for Boys, an orphanage in Washington, DC He transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park in 1953 and became the junior varsity basketball and football coach at St John's College High School.
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Morgan Wootten graduated from the University of Maryland in 1956 with degrees in physical education and history.
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In 1956, Morgan Wootten was hired as a history teacher and the coach of the football and basketball teams at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.
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In 1965, Morgan Wootten made national headlines when his DeMatha team beat Lew Alcindor's Power Memorial Academy and ended its 71-game winning streak.
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Morgan Wootten continued to teach world history to every DeMatha freshman until reducing his class load in 1980.
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Morgan Wootten has the second most wins as a head coach in the history of boys high school basketball, behind Robert Hughes.
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Morgan Wootten was one of the founders of the McDonald's All-American Game, whose annual player of the year award is named in his honor.
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Morgan Wootten turned down the offers, according to Sports Illustrated, because the Maryland job, which was not forthcoming, was the only college job he wanted.
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Morgan Wootten resided in University Park, Maryland with his wife, Kathy, whom he married in 1964.
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Morgan Wootten had five children, Cathy, Carol, Tricia, Brendan, and Joe.
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In 1996, Morgan Wootten nearly died because of a malfunctioning liver and was quickly rushed to the hospital for a liver transplant.
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Morgan Wootten died January 21,2020, at his home in Maryland, at the age of 88.
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Morgan Wootten was surrounded by his wife Kathy and family.
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Morgan Wootten co-authored two biographies with Bill Gilbert: From Orphans to Champions, and A Coach for All Seasons.
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In 1992, Morgan Wootten wrote a manual for coaching, Coaching Basketball Successfully, with co-author Dave Gilbert.
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The film explores Morgan Wootten's coaching journey from a baseball coach at a small orphanage to the first high school basketball coach in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as well as his personal and family life.
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Morgan Wootten appeared in the 2020 documentary Basketball County along DeMatha alums Victor Oladipo and Adrian Dantley.
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Morgan Wootten is one of the individuals memorialized in the ending of the film.