Teaching Athletics

Morgan (Mo) Wootten (1931-2020) of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, was the 2nd-winningest men’s high school basketball coach in U.S. history. Over the course of his 46-year career at DeMatha, he won 1,274 games and compiled an astonishing winning percentage of .869. He coached against and defeated Power Memorial whose star center Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) had been unbeatable for 71 straight games. Among his players were future NBA stars Adrian Dantley, Kenny Carr, Hawkeye Whitney, Danny Ferry, Kenny Blakney, Sidney Lowe, Derek Whittenburg, and CBS sports broadcaster James Brown. 

Morgan Wootten has had an incalculable effect on the game of basketball, and he continued to teach in his retirement through basketball clinics, instructional videos, and textbooks before passing away in January 2020. Wootten’s teams recorded 42 consecutive seasons with at least 20 victories, and they won 31 conference championships. In 1991, Wootten was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame for service to the game, only the third person elected to the Hall based on coaching at the high school level. 

The Wootten Method will explore his secrets to consistent and long-lived success in such a competitive environment. He will apply a teacher/student hybrid approach to a mastery/spiral methodology that features the art of formative assessment at its very best.  

 "I enjoyed reading about Coach Wootten. The chapter is well written and presents many valuable lessons, concepts, and approaches. What a remarkable individual , teacher and coach!"

-Joseph A. Gallo, DSc, ATC, PT

Director, Athletic Training Program

Professor Sport & Movement Science Department

Salem State University

“Morgan Wootten was an incredible teacher, coach and leader, and his lessons and legacy have left an indelible imprint on the lives of so many. In this chapter, he clearly demonstrated that teaching is coaching and coaching is teaching. Basketball was simply the vehicle for Coach Wootten to positively impact the lives of his players, students, colleagues, and all of us who observed and admired him. Morgan Wootten won a lot more than basketball games.”

-Ken Tyler, Former NCAA basketball coach and Director of Athletics.  Lecturer in Sports Management at George Mason University.

The Godfather of High School Basketball; Morgan Wooten: Defining Success…by the Numbers; A Champion Endorsement; A New Job; Wootten’s 3-point Model of Success; The Greatest Basketball Game Ever Played; The Wootten Method: Wootten Strategy #1: Build a Winner by Recruiting Good People; Wootten Strategy #2: Establish a Winning Effort; Wootten Strategy #3: Discipline Positively; Wootten Strategy #4: Use Team Rules to Reinforce your Philosophy; Bonus Profile: A Lesson about Being Flexible; Wootten Strategy #5: Make a Game Plan by Chunking; Wootten Strategy #6: Communicate your Plan through a “Why Statement;” Wootten Strategy #7: Put Winning in Perspective; Summary; Reflection

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