John Wooden has passed away at the age of 99. He was the coach of the UCLA Bruins when I was kid. My friends and I idolized him as much as we idolized the athletes we pretended to be on the playground.
We were basketball kids. Played in the school yard every night after and Saturday and Sunday until it got too dark to see your teammates or the basket. For most of us there was no better basketball that UCLA's.
Wooden's Bruins ran off a string of 7 straight NCAA titles between 1966 and '73. That's one of the greatest accomplishments in sports. I think it's the greatest accomplishment ever in North American team sport. Why is better than the Canadiens or the Yankees or the Celtics? Because Wooden had to turn his team over every 3 years when his players ran out of eligability. Pro teams could hang on to their core players for a decade.
He won his first 2 titles in 63/64 and 64/65 with Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich. Missed a year and then went on the 7 year run. Ironically that one year UCLA missed he had a kid from New York named Lew Alcindor playing on his freshman team. Alcindor, who would later become Kareem Abdul Jabbar, was probably the most dominant college player ever. But back then freshmen couldn't play for the varsity. If he had Wooden and the Bruins would have strung together 10 consecutive championships.
When Kareem went pro Wooden reloaded with Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe and Henry Bibby. When they left he recruited Bill Walton and Keith Wilkes and with those 2 the Bruins strung together back to back 30 and 0 seasons. That's the amazing thing about Wooden. His ability to find the talent, year after year, and mold that talent into championships.
During his entire coaching career he had one losing season. It came in his first year as a high school coach. He was college basketball's coach of the year 7 times. His 7 straight titles will never be matched. I know, never say never, but I'll guarantee that one. And check this out, the mastermind of the greatest college sports program ever never made more than 35 thousand dollars a season.
He was a class act. He was held in awe by his players, the media and the fans. One of his best quote was "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail". That's how he coached. That's what he passed on to players. They called him "The Wizzard of Westwood". He hated the handle but that's exactly what he was. John Wooden, wizzard.
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