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Detroit Country Day’s Frank Orlando named Morgan Wootten Award winner by Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
Detroit Country Day girls basketball coach Frank Orlando has been named one of the two 2019 recipients of the Morgan Wootten Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Named after the legendary coach from DeMatha Catholic in Maryland, one of just three exclusively high school coaches enshrined in the Hall of Fame, the award is given two two recipients each year (one boys coach, one girls coach) who “have had tremendous influence on the game.”
Bill Kruger of Clear Lake High School in Houston, Texas, was the other winner.
In his 38 years on the bench at Country Day, Orlando has compiled a record of 793-125, and is the winningest girls basketball coach in state history. He’s led the Yellowjackets to a state-record 13 championships — including the last two in Class B — as well as a record 17 finals appearances, 24 regional titles and 30 district titles.
Orlando also has a combined 100 wins as a boys coach at Redford St. Mary and Warren Tower, and won a baseball title in 1995 at Country Day. Orlando was inducted into the Michigan Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996, five years after going into the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame.
