Morgan Wootten

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Morgan Wootten (born Morgan Bayard Wootten, April 21, 1931 in Durham, North Carolina, United States) is a former high school basketball coach. From 1956 to 2002 he coached at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. The Coach with the most wins in high school basketball history, a number of his players went on to play in the NBA, including Adrian Dantley and Danny Ferry. Wootten gained legendary status in 1965, when his DeMatha team beat Lew Alcindor's Power Memorial Academy and ended their 71-game winning streak.

Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden described his admiration for Wootten when he said, "I know of no finer coach at any level - high school, college or pro. I stand in awe of him."

In October 2000, Coach Wootten was elected and inducted into the Hall of Fame, the only high school Basketball coach ever so honored.

[edit] Statistics

At his retirement, Coach Wootten ranked eighth place in the nation in the USA TODAY Magazine, with 1,274 winning games and 192 lost. He is the author of five books (A Coach for All Seasons, Coaching Basketball Successfully, From Orphans to Champions, etc...)

[edit] Later Life

In 1996, Coach Wootten nearly died because of a malfunctioning liver and was quickly rushed to the hospital for a liver transplant. He survived and was healthy a week later. Several years later, when Wootten was 75 years old, one of his kidneys failed, and he received a transplant, the kidney donated by his son Joe Wootten.

His youngest son, Joe Wootten, follows his lead and is a successful basketball coach at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, VA.