Published: June 19, 2009 12:20 am      

Another memorable visit for the Woottens

There’s a brand new native of Cumberland in town and his name is Jackson Joseph Wootten, born Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at Memorial Hospital to Joe and Terri Lynn Wootten.

Think about that. The Wootten family and their basketball teams have been coming to Cumberland and Frostburg and have been part of our community for over 40 years. And though they’ve always been like family to us, it is Jackson Joseph Wootten, weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and standing (or napping) at 19 inches tall, who can truly say he is one of us, having been born here in Cumberland at around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Carol Paul, who is Joe Wootten’s sister and the daughter of National Basketball Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten, informed us that mother, child and father are doing perfectly, as are grandparents Morgan and Kathy, who welcome their 16th grandchild, but first grandson.

“Dad said they’re still trying to determine his shoe size,” Carol said. “That’s how he says you can get a read on whether he’s going to be a basketball player or not.”

(Call it a hunch, but basketball will likely play some sort of role, methinks.)

The Woottens, who are in Frostburg for the Coach Wootten Basketball Camp, which opened this week at Frostburg State University, had planned on Jackson becoming a Virginia native back home, but when Terri Lynn went into labor here at 6 p.m. Tuesday, she and Joe headed to Memorial where it was decided the lad would arrive around 10 o’clock that night.

At the time, Morgan Wootten was enjoying dinner at the Acropolis in Frostburg and had no idea his grandson was ready to see everybody. Having been contacted by the family, he went directly to Memorial with everybody other than Kathy, who was back home in Hyattsville taking care of some business before returning to Frostburg to run the camp store.

“He was there when the baby was born,” said Carol, “but when a man dressed in scrubs wheeled out a baby, Dad had no idea the baby was Joe’s or that the guy in scrubs was Joe.

“Scott McClary ran the camp for us while we were at the hospital, and when we called to tell him it was a boy, he said, ‘Tell his dad we have an opening in week two if he wants to sign up.’”

Jackson Wootten is Joe and Terri Lynn’s third child, joining sisters Alexa, 5, who was hoping for a brother; and Reese, 2 who was hoping for another sister.

(You’re better off, Reese. Ever hear of Jan Brady?)

“The two sisters are very excited,” said Carol. “Alexa turns 6 on June 30, and she’s glad she doesn’t have to share her birthday. Plus, she wanted a boy, and when Joe told her it was a boy, she said, ‘That’s good, Daddy, because you need somebody to play with. Mommy already has us to play with.’”

With the Coach Wootten Basketball Camp closing out its first week, Team Wootten will be with us for four more weeks (three weeks of boys sessions; one of girls) conducting one of the top basketball camps in the nation, and enjoying the company of the newest family member, whom his mother plans to have stay for the duration of the camp.

For over 40 years the Wootten family has been coming to Allegany County, to compete, to coach, to relax, to enjoy, and to teach the great game they love so much. Morgan Wootten coached his DeMatha teams to 18 Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament championships, and Joe has coached his Bishop O’Connell teams to three. Morgan Wootten called his Hall of Fame coaching career a wrap at Frostburg State, directing the Stags to an ACIT championship in his final game in 2002. The next three years it was Joe’s teams cutting down the nets.

Western Maryland and Allegany County have been kind to the Woottens, and the Woottens, in turn, have been kind to us. There have been a lot of championships; a lot of love and friendship; a lot of wonderful memories here for the man John Wooden called “the best basketball coach there is — at any level.” But none of them can touch the day this week when a 19-inch, 6-pound, 13-ounce freshman (in the freshest sense), born right here in Cumberland, Maryland, announced his presence with authority.

Wonder what kind of shoe deal this kid’ll get?

Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.