MIHS Boys Basketball Coach Gavin Cree Wins State John Wooden Award

Mercer Island, WA, July 18, 2024 – Mercer Island High School boys basketball coach Gavin Cree was selected as the Washington State John Wooden Award winner by the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association (WIBCA) at their Hall of Fame Banquet on Wednesday, July 17 at the Cowlitz County Event Center in Longview.

“It is a great honor and very humbling to receive this award from WIBCA,” said Cree. “To me, this is a community award. The student-athletes, assistant coaches, families, administrators have all played a major role in building a program that is a true brotherhood across generations.”

Cree has been the Islanders coach for the last 15 seasons and has an overall record of 225-120. His teams have won more than 20 games in a season three times (2011, 2012, 2013) and has won four KingCo regular season titles (2013, 2017, 2019, 2020) and four KingCo Tournament titles (2011, 2013, 2019, 2020). Cree is a MIHS alumnus and played varsity for Islanders in 1999 when they won the state championship and in 2000 when he was team’s captain.

After high school Cree played four years at Pomona College in southern California where he earned a degree in psychology. After college graduation he worked in the commercial real estate industry for five years before becoming a health and physical education teacher at MIHS in 2012.

The National High School Basketball Coaches Association has teamed up with the Wooden family to present an annual John Wood Legacy Award to a boys and girls coach in each state. The recognition seeks to honor scholastic basketball coaches around the country who are educators and have achieved excellences on the floor, in the classroom and in the community that further embody the characteristics and legacy of former University of California, Los Angeles basketball coach John Wooden. The criteria for this award are rooted in the ideals of Education, Longevity, Character, Service and Excellence.

Besides Cree’s award several Washington basketball head coaches from both the east and west side of the state were named to the Hall of Fame at the banquet.