One of the greatest coaches in the history of sport, John Wooden passed away on Friday, June 4th, 2010 at the age of 99.
He was born on October 14th, 1910 in the small town of Hall, Indiana, and as a youngster grew to love the game of basketball that captivates the heart of most Indianans.
When he was 14, his family moved to the town of Martinsville, Indiana, where he led the local high school to the state championship final for three straight seasons (winning one).
Many people may not be aware that he then moved on to a stellar college basketball career at Purdue University, where he became the first player to ever be named a consensus three-time All American. He also led Purdue to the 1932 National Championship (which was voted on then, and didn’t involve the NCAA Tournament, which didn’t start until 1939).
He played professionally for several years, and taught and coached in high schools before starting his college coaching career. He was the first coach to integrate at the NAIA collegiate level, bringing black players to his first job at Indiana State. While at Indiana State, in 1948, he coached his squad to the NAIA National Title game, losing to Louisville. This would be the only championship game that a Wooden-coached team would ever lose.
Wooden became the head coach at UCLA after the 1948 season, but it was actually his second choice. He had hoped to stay in the Midwest and become head coach at the University of Minnesota, but inclement weather in Minneapolis prevented him from receiving the phone call that would have given him their coaching offer. Thinking they had lost interest, he accepted the UCLA offer, and when Minnesota called him, he turned the offer down, as he had given his word.
Wooden’s record at UCLA is a resume unparalleled by any coach at the college level. 10 national titles and seven NCAA coach of the year awards, several Pacific 8 conference titles. Marks that no coach will ever match.
Amazingly, Wooden was never paid more than 35,000 dollars a year as a coach, and never once asked for a raise.
In death, he joins his wife Nell, who died in 1985 and was missed terribly by Wooden as he aged.
Statemments on the death of John Wooden:
“Today, we’ve lost a giant in all of sport with the passing of Coach Wooden. Quite likely, his accomplishments as a college basketball coach will never be matched. Neither will the impact he had on his players or the greater basketball community. Many have called Coach Wooden the ‘gold standard’ of coaches. I believe he was the ‘gold standard’ of people and carried himself with uncommon grace, dignity and humility. Coach Wooden’s name is synonymous with excellence, and deservedly so. He was one of the great leaders – in any profession – of his generation. We are blessed that the sport of basketball benefitted from his talents for so long. Coach Wooden and his wisdom will be sorely missed.”
— Head coach Mike Krzyzewski
“Today is a very sad day. For me personally, in my entire life, when I’ve thought about college basketball, the name that comes to the first of your list is John Wooden. That’s the only name that can be associated with being the best in the elite of their league in college basketball. For what he was able to accomplish, for some of the people he coached – who he not only turned into great basketball players, but into greater people – says enough about John Wooden’s legacy.
— 2002 Wooden Award winner Jason Williams