Gary Ernst, David Houle receive 2026 Morgan Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame awarded the 2026 Morgan Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award to Gary Ernst and David Houle. This prestigious recognition, named after the longtime DeMatha Catholic coach, honors high school basketball coaches with monumental career achievements.

Ernst coached high school basketball in Arizona from 1974 to 2022. In nearly five decades, he compiled 955 victories and eight state championships, seven of which he won at Mountain View High School.

His impressive run earned him inductions into the Arizona High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame (2008), the Mountain View Toros Hall of Fame (2019), and the Mesa Sports Hall of Fame (2019). Just when he had nothing left to prove, Gary Ernst returned to be the interim head coach at Gilbert High School for the 2024-25 season.

Coincidentally, Houle, the other Morgan Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, also coached at Mountain View High School, but in Orem, Utah. For 25 years (1981-2006), he amassed 68 state championships and seven national titles from coaching track and field, cross-country, and girls’ basketball. In 2001, Houle guided the Bruins to a 27-1 record and an ESPN National Championship. He won 13 state championships in girls’ basketball and has coached in USA Basketball and the McDonald’s All-American Games.

The National High School Coaches Association named Houle the 2021 National Girls High School Basketball Coach of the Year. The year before, he became an inductee in the National High School Hall of Fame.

About the Morgan Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame began presenting this award in 2007. Each year, one boys’ basketball and one girls’ basketball head coach receives this recognition for their career achievements. Some of the past recipients include Mater Dei’s Gary McKnight and St. Anthony’s Bob Hurley, the father of UConn head coach Dan Hurley.

This award is named after Morgan Wooten, one of only five high school basketball coaches to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. From 1956 to 2002, Wooten compiled 1,274 victories, five high school national championships, 22 state championships, and 33 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles. Wooten passed away in January 2020 at age 88.