Staff Report
MaxPreps.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Ralph Tasker and Dorothy Gaters were named today as winners of the annual Morgan Wootten Award for lifetime achievement as high school basketball coaches. The awards are given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in honor of legendary DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) coach Morgan Wootten.
The awards will be presented during the annual McDonald’s All-American basketball games, which will be held on Wednesday, April 1, in Miami, Fla.
Tasker, who died in 1999, coached boys basketball at Hobbs (N.M.) for 53 years, winning an amazing 1,122 games against just 291 defeats. He won 12 state championships, was a two-time National Coach of the Year and is a member of the National High School Hall of Fame. Hobbs teams now play at Ralph Tasker Arena.
Gaters has been head girls coach at Marshall (Chicago, Ill.) since 1976. Her overall record is 900-126 with eight state championships and a pair of runner-up finishes. She was Illinois Coach of the Year eight times and is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She also has coached in the U.S. Olympic Festival and the 1992 WBCA Girls High School All-American Game.
