John Wooden

John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head coach for the UCLA Bruins, including a record seven in a row. No other team has won more than four in a row in Division I college men's or women's basketball. Within this period, his teams won an NCAA men's basketball record 88 consecutive games. Wooden won the prestigious Henry Iba Award as national coach of the year a record seven times and won the Associated Press award five times.

As a guard with the Purdue Boilermakers, Wooden was the first college basketball player to be named an All-American three times, and the 1932 Purdue team on which he played as a senior was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA tournament national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and was retroactively listed as the top-ranked team by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. He played professionally in the National Basketball League (NBL). Wooden was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (1960) and as a coach (1973), the first person to be enshrined in both categories.

One of the most respected coaches in the history of sports, the son of Roxie (1887–1959) and Joshua Wooden (1882–1950), and moved with his family to a small farm in Centerton in 1918. He had three brothers: Wooden led his high school team to a state tournament title in 1927. He was a three-time All-State selection. John Wooden was named All-Big Ten and All-Midwestern (1930–32) while at Purdue, and he was the first player ever to be named a three-time consensus All-American. In 1932, he was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor, recognizing one student athlete from the graduating class of each Big Ten member school, for demonstrating joint athletic and academic excellence throughout their college career. He was also selected for membership in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Wooden is also an honorary member of Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity. Wooden was nicknamed "The Indiana Rubber Man" for his suicidal dives on the hardcourt. He was named to the All-NBL First Team for the 1937–38 season.

During World War II in 1942, he joined the United States Navy. He served until 1946 and left the service as a lieutenant. marked the only time he had a losing record (6–11) as a coach. After Dayton, he returned to Indiana, where he taught English, coached basketball and served as the athletic director at South Bend Central High School until entering the Armed Forces. Wooden spent two years at Dayton and nine years at Central. His high school coaching record over 11 years was 218–42. In addition to his duties as basketball coach, Wooden also coached baseball (1948 season, 7–7 record) and served as athletic director, In 1947, Wooden's basketball team won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City. Wooden refused the invitation, citing the NAIB's policy banning black players. One of Wooden's players, Clarence Walker, was a black man from East Chicago, Indiana. and Wooden coached his team to the NAIB National Tournament final, losing to Louisville. This was the only championship game a Wooden-coached team ever lost. That year, Walker became the first black player to play in any post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament.

Wooden had immediate success, fashioning the mark of the rarest of coaches, an "instant turnaround" for an undistinguished, faltering program. Part of this success was due to his unique offensive system, the same system that countless coaches use today. John Wooden stated, "I believe my system is perfectly suited to counter all the modern defenses I have seen, and that includes run-and-jump, 1–3–1 trapping, box-and-one, triangle-and-two, and switching man-to-man."

Prior to Wooden's arrival at UCLA, the basketball program had only had two conference championship seasons in the previous 18 years. In his first season, he took a Bruins team that had posted a 12–13 record the previous year and transformed it into a Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) Southern Division champion with a 22–7 record, He surpassed that number the next season with 24–7 and a second division title and overall conference title in 1950, and would add two more in his first four years. Up to that time, UCLA had collected a total of two division titles since the PCC began divisional play, and had not won a conference title of any sort since winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1927.

thumb|upright|Wooden in 1960

In spite of these achievements, Wooden reportedly did not initially enjoy his position, and his wife did not favor living in Los Angeles. When Mel Taube left Purdue in 1950, Wooden's inclination was to return to West Lafayette and finally accept the head coaching job there. He was ultimately dissuaded when UCLA officials reminded him that it was he who had insisted upon a three-year commitment during negotiations in 1948. Wooden felt that leaving UCLA prior to the expiration of his contract would be tantamount to breaking his word, even though Purdue offered more money, a car and housing.

By the 1955–56 season, Wooden had established a record of sustained success at UCLA. That year, he guided the team to its first undefeated PCC conference title and a 17-game winning streak that came to an end only at the hands of Phil Woolpert's University of San Francisco team (who had Bill Russell and K.C. Jones) that eventually won the 1956 NCAA tournament. However, UCLA was unable to advance from this level over the immediately ensuing seasons, finding itself unable to return to the NCAA Tournament, as the Pete Newell-coached teams of the California Golden Bears took control of the conference and won the 1959 NCAA tournament. Also hampering the fortunes of Wooden's team during that time period was a probation that was imposed on all UCLA sports teams in the aftermath of a scandal that involved illegal payments made to players on the school's football team. The probation was also extended to three additional schools: the University of Southern California, California and Stanford. The scandal resulted in the dismantling of the PCC conference.

By the 1961–1962 season, the probation was no longer in place and Wooden returned his team to the top of the conference. This time, however, they would take the next step, and in so doing, unleash a run of dominance unparalleled in the history of college basketball. UCLA reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. A narrow loss, due largely to a controversial foul call in a 1962 semi-final game against Ed Jucker's eventual national champion Cincinnati team, convinced Wooden that his Bruins were ready to contend for national championships. It was all uphill after that as the squad repeated as national champions with Gail Goodrich, Kenny Washington, and Doug McIntosh. The Bruins upended Dave Strack's Michigan team 91–80 in the finals of the NCAA tournament. Goodrich shared Player of the Year honors with Princeton's Bill Bradley. The 1966 squad was denied a chance at a triple crown when it finished second to Oregon State in the Athletic Association of Western Universities (now the Pac-12). UCLA was ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament that year because in those days only conference champions received a bid to the tournament. The Bruins' 1967 incarnation returned with a vengeance with sophomore star Alcindor, reclaiming not only the conference title, but the national crown with another 30–0 season, and then retaining it every season but one until Wooden's retirement immediately following the 1975 NCAA championship.

The resurgence of the Bruins under Wooden made it obvious that they needed a new home. Since 1932, the Bruins had played at the Men's Gym. It normally seated 2,400, but had been limited to 1,500 since 1955 by order of the city fire marshal. This forced the Bruins to move games to Pan Pacific Auditorium, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and other venues around Los Angeles when they were expected to attract larger crowds—something that happened fairly often after the Bruins' first national title. At Wooden's urging, a much larger on-campus facility, Pauley Pavilion, was built in time for the 1965–66 season. The building in Westwood was christened on November 27, 1965, in a special game that pitted the UCLA varsity against the UCLA freshmen. It was Lew Alcindor's (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) freshman season (freshmen were ineligible to play on the varsity in those days). UCLA was the defending national champion and ranked number 1 in the pre-season poll. The freshmen easily won the game by a score of 75–60. It was a powerful indication of things to come.

A rule change was instituted for the 1967–1968 season, primarily because of Alcindor's towering play near the basket. The dunk shot was outlawed and would not be reinstated until the 1976–1977 season, which was shortly after Wooden's retirement. This was at least the second time that the rules committee had initiated change in response to the domination of a superstar player; in 1944, the goaltending rule was instituted to counter George Mikan's dominant defensive play near the basket. In January, UCLA took its 47-game winning streak to the Astrodome in Houston, where the Bruins met Guy Lewis' Houston squad, who had Elvin Hayes, Don Chaney, and Ken Spain, in the Game of the Century in the nation's first nationally televised regular season college basketball game. Houston upset UCLA 71–69, as Hayes scored 39 points. In a post-game interview, Wooden said, "We have to start over." UCLA went undefeated the rest of the year and thrashed Houston 101–69 in the semi-final rematch of the NCAA tournament en route to the national championship. Sports Illustrated ran the front cover headline Lew's Revenge. The rout of Houston. UCLA limited Hayes to only 10 points; he had been averaging 37.7 points per game. Wooden credited Norman for devising the diamond-and-one defense that contained Hayes. The Game of the Century is also remembered for an incident involving Wooden and Edgar Lacy. Lacy was ineffective on defense against Elvin Hayes, and Wooden benched him after 11 minutes. Lacy never re-entered the game. Furious with Wooden, Lacy quit the team three days later, telling the Los Angeles Times "I've never enjoyed playing for that man." UCLA's talent during the 1968 NCAA tournament was so overwhelming that they placed four players on the All-Tournament team. In addition to Alcindor, Lucius Allen, Mike Warren, and "Lefty" Lynn Shackelford were given accolades. Kenny Heitz was also a member of UCLA's 1968 team.

Lew Alcindor finished his career at UCLA in 1969 with a third consecutive national championship when the Bruins beat George King's Purdue team 92–72 in the title game. The three straight titles were matched by three consecutive MVP awards in the tournament as Alcindor established himself as college basketball's superstar during the three-peat performance. Alcindor and Wooden would continue their communication even after he left UCLA. In 2017, Jabbar wrote a book, "Coach Wooden and Me", which details their long-standing friendship.

A sportswriter commented that everybody outside of UCLA would be happy that glorious day in June when Alcindor finally graduated and college basketball could go back to the routine method of determining a national champion. This prophecy would prove to be ludicrous over the next six years. The 1970 squad proved that nobody was indispensable to the success of the UCLA program, not even Alcindor, as Sidney Wicks, Henry Bibby, Curtis Rowe, John Vallely, and Kenny Booker carried the Bruins to their fourth consecutive NCAA title with an 80–69 win over upstart Jacksonville, coached by Joe Williams. Wicks and Rowe double teamed 7-foot Artis Gilmore on defense and shut down the high-powered Jacksonville offense, which had been averaging 100 points per game. Gilmore and 5'10" Rex Morgan had been dubbed "Batman and Robin" by the press.

In the 1971 NCAA championship game, Steve Patterson outscored Howard Porter of Jack Kraft's scandal-plagued Villanova squad as UCLA won 68–62. The following year, UCLA had its closest game in all of Wooden's 10 championships, beating Hugh Durham's Florida State team 81–76 to take the 1972 title. After the game, Bill Walton said, "We didn't play well."

thumb|upright|left|200px|Wooden with [[Digger Phelps in 1973, after UCLA beat Notre Dame for their NCAA-record 61st straight win]]

The 1972–1973 season was one of the most memorable campaigns in the history of UCLA basketball. Freshmen became eligible to play varsity ball again, and the Bruins went 30–0 and stretched their winning streak to a record 75 straight in breezing through the NCAA tournament by blowing out Gene Bartow's Memphis State team 87–66 in the final, as Bill Walton hit an incredible 21 of 22 field goal attempts. Walton and Wooden were everybody's Player and Coach of the Year again. Keith Wilkes, Greg Lee, and Larry Hollyfield were members of that team, and Wilkes would go on to win four NBA championships as well.

UCLA's two big streaks came to an end during the 1973–1974 season. In January, the winning streak stopped at 88 games when Digger Phelps's Notre Dame squad upended the Bruins 71–70 in South Bend. Two months later, Norm Sloan's North Carolina State team defeated UCLA 80–77 in double overtime in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. David Thompson was NC State's All-American, and Tom Burleson did an excellent job on defense against Bill Walton. UCLA had beaten the Wolfpack by 18 points early in the season, but things were different when they met in March.

Wooden coached his final game in Pauley Pavilion on March 1, 1975, a 93–59 victory over Stanford. Four weeks later, following a 75–74 overtime victory over former player and former assistant coach Denny Crum and Louisville in the 1975 NCAA Tournament semifinal game, Wooden announced that he would retire at age 64 immediately after the championship game. His coaching career concluded triumphantly when Richard Washington and David Meyers combined for 52 points as UCLA responded with a 92–85 win over Joe B. Hall and Kentucky to claim Wooden's first career coaching victory over the Wildcats and his unprecedented 10th national championship. Marques Johnson and Andre McCarter were also key contributors on Wooden's final championship team.

Andy Hill, who was on three Bruin teams under Wooden that won NCAA championships from 1970 to 1972, decades later co-wrote with Wooden the 2001 book Be Quick—But Don't Hurry! Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime. The bestseller details how Hill applied his experience as a player under Wooden to achieve success in his career as a television executive. His goal was to demonstrate the relevance of Wooden's coaching style to the business world. The book also delves into his personal relationship with Wooden as his coach and mentor.

During his tenure with the Bruins, Wooden became known as "the Wizard of Westwood", though he personally disdained the nickname. and four perfect 30–0 seasons. According to his own writings, Wooden turned down an offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers from owner Jack Kent Cooke that may have been ten times what UCLA was paying him.

Association with Sam Gilbert

During Wooden's time at UCLA, and after his retirement in 1975, he faced criticism for the program's relationship with local businessman and booster Sam Gilbert, known by many of Wooden's players as "Papa Sam." Gilbert, a multi-millionaire contractor, was known for forging close financial relationships with UCLA players, supplying them with cars, clothes, stereos, travel, and apartments, as well as allegedly arranging abortions for players' girlfriends. He represented several UCLA stars, including Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton, as an agent after they turned pro.

A 1981 Los Angeles Times investigation, interviewing 45 people affiliated with the basketball program, revealed the extent of Gilbert's involvement, describing him as "a one-man clearinghouse who has enabled players and their families to receive goods and services usually at big discounts and sometimes free." The Times investigation found that Gilbert's involvement in the program began in 1967, when UCLA stars Alcindor and Lucius Allen were considering transferring to Michigan State. They approached former UCLA star Willie Naulls, who introduced them to Gilbert. In his autobiography Giant Steps, Abdul-Jabbar called Gilbert "that odd combination, a cagey humanitarian with a lot of muscle. Guys would go to him when they were in trouble, and he would find a way to fix it...Sam steered clear of John Wooden, and Mr. Wooden gave him the same wide berth. Both helped the school greatly...once the money thing got worked out, I never gave another thought to leaving UCLA."

"The way Sam explained it to me, it was within the rules," Allen said in a 2007 documentary. "But it wasn't." In 1973, freshman center Richard Washington told The New York Times the reason he'd chosen UCLA: "I took a dip in Sam Gilbert's pool and it cooled me off and that was the convincer."

In 1978, NCAA field investigator J. Brent Clark testified before a Congressional subcommittee that he had begun investigating Gilbert's activities the year before but was told to back off by a superior at the NCAA, Bill Hunt. "If I had spent a month in Los Angeles, I could have put them [UCLA] on indefinite suspension," Clark said later, but "as long as Wooden was there, the NCAA would never have taken any action." Clark told Congress: "The conclusion I draw is that it is an example of a school that is too big, too powerful, and too well respected by the public, that the timing was not right to proceed against them.

Wooden was aware of Gilbert's closeness with his players. In 1972, Wooden said "I personally hardly know Sam Gilbert...I think he's a person who's trying to be helpful in every way that he can. I sometimes feel that in his interest to be helpful it's in direct contrast with what I would like to have him do to be helpful. I think he means very well and, for the most part, he has attached himself to the minority-race players. I really don't want to get involved in saying much about that, to be honest with you."

Despite concerns about Gilbert, Wooden said he chose not to ask players to cut off contact, telling the Times in 1981: "There's as much crookedness as you want to find. There was something Abraham Lincoln said — he'd rather trust and be disappointed than distrust and be miserable all the time. Maybe I trusted too much."

Wooden did pass along his concerns to UCLA athletic director J. D. Morgan, but Morgan did not pursue the matter aggressively, in part because he believed Gilbert was connected to the Mafia. Former UCLA chancellor Charles E. Young recalled Morgan "saying to me in that deep voice of his, 'Chuck, you don't know about Sam Gilbert. Do you want to end up on a block of concrete at the bottom of the ocean?' J. D.'s view of him was that if you cross Sam, you're likely to be killed, literally."

Gene Bartow, who succeeded Wooden as UCLA coach, felt similarly. In 1991, he wrote a letter to an NCAA official thanking him for suppressing Brent Clark's investigation into Gilbert. "I want to say 'thank you' for possibly saving my life...I believe Sam Gilbert was Mafia-related and was capable of hurting people. I think, had the NCAA come in hard while I was at UCLA, Gilbert and others associated with the program would have felt I had reported them, and I would have been in possible danger...Without question, he put out some front-end money to recruits in a few cases, and I think that could have been proven."

In 1981, after Wooden's retirement, an NCAA investigation sanctioned UCLA for its relationship with Gilbert, putting the program on probation for two seasons and ordering the school to disassociate itself from him. Three players at other universities told NCAA investigators that Gilbert had offered them cars to commit to UCLA.

Career playing statistics

NBL

Source

Regular season

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"

! Year

! Team

! GP

! FGM

! FTM

! PTS

! PPG

| style="text-align:left;"| 1937–38

| style="text-align:left;"| Whiting

| 13 || 52 || 39 || 143 || 11.0

| style="text-align:left;"| 1938–39

| style="text-align:left;"| Indianapolis

| 5 || 14 || 11 || 39 || 7.8

| style="text-align:left;"| 1938–39

| style="text-align:left;"| Hammond

| 5 || 10 || 12 || 32 || 6.4

|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career

| 23 || 76 || 62 || 214 || 9.3

Playoffs