Former Mercer Island basketball head coach Ed Pepple was recently nominated and will receive the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Morgan Wootten Award.

The award, is given for lifetime achievement in coaching high school basketball, is named for Morgan Wootten, one of two high school coaches in the hall of fame. The award is given annually to one boy and one girls head coach.

Pepple was the longest-tenured basketball coach in the state of Washington, beginning coaching with Mercer Island in 1968. He helped the Islanders to 21 KingCo championships, and played in 26 state titles games. He was named the Washington state Coach of the Year seven times and was the 1997 Coach of the Year for the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

The winners were selected by a national committee and the awards will be presented during the 2012 McDonald’s All-American Game this March in Chicago, Ill.