John Wooden, RIP

Nice write up Scipio Tex ,
Wooden’s Pyramid of Success is something that I have used with At Risk kids in a correctional setting and kids on the block playground. Some get it and some don’t but the information is relevant to living your life today as when Wooden was using it. A great man and Coach in many ways. A long and productive life.
May the wind be calm at your back and may the sun shine on your face forever more.

I’m not given to admiration and respect of that many people, especially those in the public eye. My respect and admiration for John Wooden is without reservation. Anyone who thinks his Pyramid of Success is an anachronism doesn’t get it. Wooden came from a different time, a time when personal values and character were of more concern than they apparently are today. That’s a huge shame. I can’t think of many people these days that I’d recommend as a role model, but he would be at the top of the list. He would also be on a very short list of people I regret never having had the chance to meet, to talk to. I envy those who knew him, and I grieve his passing. There are way too few left like him.

Great closing line.

To the best.

One of the things that made my trip to LA to see Texas-UCLA basketball a couple of years ago was seeing the man from across the way. The students always saluted him when he entered the arena.

Coach Wooden began the first practice of every year exactly the same way. He would have everyone line up and he would proceed to show the players the correct way to put on their socks and tie their shoes. It was to be done precisely the way Coach Wooden demonstrated. Didn’t matter if you were a freshman or a two-time All American, they all had to repeat the process.

Wooden’s reasoning was like everything else in his life, simple and to the point. Wrinkles in socks and shoes not tightly tied led to blisters, which led to players not being able to practice or perform at their best.

Of course, this precision in everything is especially handy when you have more talent than any other two teams combined. In 1971-72 Texas had a pretty good team. Larry Robinson was a 6-6 sophomore jumping jack who was the Horns first African-American star. Harry Larrabee was a point guard out of Indiana, which means he actually understood the nuances of the game. The Horns won the SWC, upset the University of Houston in the NCAA’s and lost to Kansas State in the Sweet 16. Early in the season they went to Los Angeles to play in the UCLA Classic.

UCLA had a starting lineup of: Bill Walton, Henry Bibby, Jamaal Wilkes, Larry Farmer and Greg Lee. This was the Bruin team that started the 88-game winning streak.

At the half UCLA had a comfortable lead. Texas made a quick little burst to begin the second half (scoring 6 or 8 quick points in a row). Wooden calls timeout and benches the entire starting five. The second team, led by Swen Nater – the only college basketball player to never start a collegiate game and still be a first round NBA draft choice – quickly blew the game wide open. UCLA won 115-65.

I actually had the honor of (attempting) to play basketball with Coach Wooden in the stands. The year after the NIT championship season Texas got some pub, including a nationally televised game from the Erwin Center. I think it was against Houston but the opponent escapes me. Wooden worked the TV broadcast with Dick Enberg.

Freshmen games were no longer played, so Abe thought it would be funny if a team made of up local radio-TV guys played one from the Statesman and the wire services before the contest. The team had gotten new unis that year so he let us wear the old orange and white. Near the end of the first half, during a timeout, we look over and there under the south goal is John Wooden, smiling and shaking his head.

Nice post.

I hope they ask Coach Garrido about him tonight during post-game. Augie held Coach Wooden in high regard. It’s really interesting to listen to him get on a role about Coach Wooden – good stuff.

srr, that game was against USC…

BIH — thanks, I just remember that we kicked the ink-stained media’s butt.

Articles like these are one of the reasons I visit BC so often. The Barkers know when to be snarky, cynical, sarcastic, crude, etc…. but also when to write a well thought out piece with respect.

I had a junior high Hoops coach named Kellis White who was kind of a John Wooden starter kit. He quoted him often and treated us "Mini Clipper Coopers" kindly and wove thought provoking sayings into every practice. During one frustrating practice for me I slammed the ball down and shouted that something wasn’t fair. He walked over to me and stared me straight in the eyes and quietly said, “Art (he actually used my real name)…. don’t let anyone ever tell you life is fair.”
Not exactly Woodenesque, but it made an impact.

Glad to see BC acknowledging the greatest coach ever. Basketball as a team sport was perfected in the 60s by Wooden’s UCLA teams along w/Russell’s Celtics. Thanks for the article.

Great article. I wish you had written more actually. The world is not near as good a place without the Wizard of Westwood in it. God speed, Coach.

So, Trips, get on with it. I think this deserves BC’s resident hoops guru’s take.

I was fortunate to be alive and a witness (via TV) to all of UCLA’s national titles under Coach Wooden. I was a huge UCLA basketball fan because of him. He was the epitome of class and humility. I’ve long dreaded his passing in much the same way I dread the passing of DKR. However small in stature, he was a giant of a man, the likes of whom we’ll never see, again.

Great stuff, Scipio.

I recall hearing Walton years ago describe the practice habits that Wooden instilled in his players, the way in which he pulled excellence out of them. He wasn’t necessarily a run-sprints-til-you-puke guy, but every rep and every drill had to be executed flawlessly, every single time. Offensive and defensive sets were often practiced without opposition on the floor, with the sole focus being on individual and collective execution. And UCLA did very little scouting because Wooden believed that if the team executed properly, they couldn’t be beaten. (Turns out, he was right.)

I remember hearing this as a smart ass high school kid and thinking it was old fashioned, outdated and sort of lame. But I am amazed at how much I’ve thought back to this during my life at the most random of times. It’s so easy to do a “good enough” job with most anything we do, but we could all use a healthy dose of Wooden’s practice habits from time to time couldn’t we?

Maybe I had a little quality time with my 6 year old twice this week and that’s good enough. And hey, it’s more than a lot of dads do. But is it really good enough? Was it the best I could have done? Did I pass the “invisible defense” test, or did I just take satisfaction in the fact that I’m a better dad than the dope next door?

It took me years to fully get what Walton was talking about. Wooden wasn’t just practicing offensive plays impeccably with no defensive players as a way to teach the moves like a dance instructor. He was instilling an expectation that his guys should be doing things perfectly because they can do things perfectly. He was carving character.

Walton often tells the story of coming back to campus one fall with a beard. He talks to Wooden about it and says he wants to keep it. Wooden tells him that’s fine, but that they are going to miss him. Walton immediately shaves.

Everyone remembers the uber-talented UCLA teams Coach Wooden won his last few championships with, but I always thought the mark of his greatness was winning titles early on with less-talented teams. It’s not that they didn’t have talent, just that they didn’t usually have the kind of talent to blow another team off of the court.

The attention to detail referred to earlier is what set Wooden’s teams apart from others of that era. They wore other teams down because they played sound basketball and they didn’t beat themselves. Coach Wooden worked the mistakes out in practice, not in games, and it showed.

I learned of UCLA from afar, growing up in central Texas at a time when basketball was just something to pass time until spring football practice. They were the gold standard of college basketball because, quite simply, they had, hands down, the best head coach, and best coaching, of any team. That kind of sound, fundamental, mistake-free basketball largely isn’t taught anymore. I find that interesting, because someone who does coach that way could still have a chance to win really big, assuming players could be found who would set their egos aside long enough to play team-oriented basketball.

Oh, and for all of that, Coach Wooden may have been the best basketball coach of his or any other era, but as quite a few people a lot more prominent than me have already noted, he demonstrated every day AFTER leaving UCLA as head coach that he was even much more successful as a person and a role model. I seriously hope there are some young coaches out there now who are willing to learn more about Coach Wooden and carry on at least some of his legacy.

Hate to be a party pooper, but college basketball at that time was a total joke and the fact is UCLA basketball was the first to be involved with street agents/runner. Wooden’s titles are not that impressive considering how primitive college basketball was at that time. Yeah he is a great man and a great coach, but the dominance is not that impressive.

Great piece, Scip.

“The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team.”

scip thank you for the piece on coach wooden. the poor response(at least volume) is telling of how much his legacy has been devalued. his principles seem anachronistic not sublime today. reading your perspective on this thought would be enlightening and possibly bring more appreciation for the “truth” of coach wooden’s life. anyway thank you again for the chance to look back

Sean -
 
You’re not a party pooper, just ignorant and tactless.
 
Cheating in college basketball predates Sam Gilbert by several decades. The notion that UCLA was the first program to have illegal payments is absurd and ignorant. And Wooden really didn’t know about it.
 
Primitive college basketball? No. The game was widely followed and a passion for most of the country. In fact, it vastly exceeded the NBA in terms of fan interest. It was basketball. This wasn’t club lacrosse.

My favorite Wooden-ism is the top block of the pyramid:

Competitive Greatness—Being at your best when your best is needed.

Elegant, difficult.

The HBO special on UCLA was great. Dick Enberg said in all the years of announcing UCLA games and talking to Wooden he never talked about winning. He was all about the process of excellence.

To call Wooden a basketball coach for all his achievements almost sells him short. He was a helluva lot more than that.