Morgan Wootten Helped Shape High School Basketball

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/preps/basketball/2013/05/01/morgan-wootten-dematha-basketball-coach-innovators-icons/2124931/

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.

Though he retired 11 years ago, his impact on the game continues to be felt.

He believes there’s no place in basketball for the coaching techniques that got Mike Rice fired at Rutgers.

“True basketball coaches are great teachers and you do not humiliate, you do not physically go after, you do not push or shove, you do not berate, if you are a true coach, said Wootten, the first high school coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. If you humiliate or curse them, that won’t do it.

“Coaches like that are not coaches. They don’t know how to coach the game properly so they holler, scream and curse and that’s to cover up.”

Wootten, who went 1, 274-192 at DeMatha, knows what he’s talking about. When he makes a casual reference to legends such as John Wooden, Red Auerbach or Joe Lapchick, he’s not name-dropping but acknowledging his mentors. And while he may not have the national name recognition of Wooden or Auerbach, he was no less innovative.

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. The 82-year-old Wootten is on Twitter, has his own website and is a public speaker.

Wootten was behind many of the innovations now common in high school basketball. His DeMatha team was one of the first to play powerhouses from other states, use full-court pressure defenses and employed a defensive technique that led to the offensive foul.

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Morgan Wootten Helped Shape High School Basketball

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/preps/basketball/2013/05/01/morgan-wootten-dematha-basketball-coach-innovators-icons/2124931/

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.

Though he retired 11 years ago, his impact on the game continues to be felt.

He believes there’s no place in basketball for the coaching techniques that got Mike Rice fired at Rutgers.

“True basketball coaches are great teachers and you do not humiliate, you do not physically go after, you do not push or shove, you do not berate, if you are a true coach, said Wootten, the first high school coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. If you humiliate or curse them, that won’t do it.

“Coaches like that are not coaches. They don’t know how to coach the game properly so they holler, scream and curse and that’s to cover up.”

Wootten, who went 1, 274-192 at DeMatha, knows what he’s talking about. When he makes a casual reference to legends such as John Wooden, Red Auerbach or Joe Lapchick, he’s not name-dropping but acknowledging his mentors. And while he may not have the national name recognition of Wooden or Auerbach, he was no less innovative.

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. The 82-year-old Wootten is on Twitter, has his own website and is a public speaker.

Wootten was behind many of the innovations now common in high school basketball. His DeMatha team was one of the first to play powerhouses from other states, use full-court pressure defenses and employed a defensive technique that led to the offensive foul.