Morgan Wootten
helped shape modern
high school basketball
DEMATHA HS.
HYATTSVILLE MD.
Morgan Wootten built a reputation as one of the nation's finest high school basketball coaches during a 45-year career at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md.
Wootten, who went 1,274-192 at DeMatha.
He started the first day summer basketball camp in 1961 and, with his son Joe, the basketball coach at Bishop O'Connell in Arlington, Va., continues to hold camps.
In 1965, his DeMatha basketball team ended the 71-game winning streak of New York City powerhouse Power Memorial, which was led by 7-3 center Lew Alcindor, who later became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The game was the first sellout in the University of Maryland's Cole Field House.
Wootten won five mythical national championships at DeMatha. He turned down opportunities to coach at Virginia, Wake Forest, North Carolina State and Duke to remain a high school coach.
'They never forget their coach. They may forget some of the teachers they had, they may even forget some of the players they played with, but they never forget their coach.' That's the beauty of coaching. You get to touch lives, you get to make a difference.
"You get to do things for people who will never pay you back and they say you never have had a perfect day until you've done something for someone who will never pay you back."
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