Zach Gibson
Dr. Tom Capozzoli
OLS 284
2 April 2014
John Wooden

John Robert Wooden was born in 1910 in the town of Hall, Indiana. His parents, Roxie Anna and Joshua Hugh Wooden, moved his family to a small farm in Centerton in 1918. Their farm had neither running water nor electricity and money was often in short supply. In 1924, the Woodens, like many farm families, went bankrupt and lost their farm. The family moved to Martinsville, a small town that, like so many in Indiana, took great pride in the performance of its high school basketball teams. One of Wooden’s role models was Fuzzy Vandivier of the Franklin Wonder Five. The Franklin Wonder Five was a legendary Indiana high school basketball team that compiled an 89-9 record and won three straight state championships from 1920 to 1922. Wooden went on to star on his high school team, leading them to the state championship three years in a row. Wooden won the state title in 1927 and was named an All-State selection three times, a feat matched only by Fuzzy Vandivier, Oscar Robertson, and George McGinnis. After graduating in 1928, Wooden went on to attend Purdue University. He went on to letter all four years in basketball and was the first player ever to be a three time All-American. Wooden earned the nickname “The Indiana Rubber Man” for his fearless play and tenacity diving for balls on the court. He led the Boilermakers to the 1932 National Championship, which was then called the Helms Athletic Foundation National Championship. At that time, the champion was determined by a panel vote rather than the NCAA tournament, since the NCAA did not begin until 1939. Wooden graduated from Purdue in 1932 with his degree in English. Once he graduated, Wooden married his high school sweetheart, Nell Riley, in Indianapolis. The first stint in John Wooden’s coaching career was also spent as the Athletic Director and English teacher for Dayton High School in Dayton, Kentucky. In his first season, the “Green Devils” go 6-11, the only losing season for Wooden in his entire coaching career. Wooden moved on to South Bend Central High School to teach English and coach basketball. Wooden would coach there until 1942 when the United States enters World War II and he joins the US Navy. In Wooden’s 11 year high school coaching career, Wooden amassed a record of 218-42. After his discharge in 1946, Wooden was hired at Indiana Teachers College, which now Indiana State University. Once again he served as athletic director and basketball coach as well as the baseball coach for two seasons. In 1947, Wooden's basketball team won the Indiana Collegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the NAIB tournament. Wooden refused the invitation because of the NAIB's policy banning African American players. Clarence Walker, a member of the Sycamores' team, was an African American from East Chicago, Indiana. In 1948, the NAIB changed its policy an Indiana State won another conference title. Wooden guided his team to the NAIB final but suffered the only loss a Wooden coached team experienced in a college championship game. In 1948, Wooden accepted the job at UCLA. Prior to accepting the job, he pursued the head coaching position at the University of Minnesota. He and Nellie wanted to stay in the Midwest, but a snowstorm in Minnesota knocked out phone lines and Wooden never received the scheduled phone offer from Minnesota. Believing they had lost interest, he took UCLA’s call offer just fifteen minutes later. University of Minnesota officials contacted Wooden after he accepted the position at UCLA, but he declined their offer because he had given his word to the Bruins. The UCLA Bruins team was considered the weakest in the Pacific Coast Conference. The University had not provided a home court to play in, and the team had to share practice facilities with the school's other teams. Wooden proved to be a turnaround artist, winning six of the next eight Pacific Coast Conference Championships with teams prior to Wooden’s arrival winning two championships in 18 seasons. Despite being known as one of the most prolific coaches, his first 15 years at UCLA passed without an NCAA title. After the 1962-63 season, John Wooden embarked on a coaching campaign that has yet to be matched in college basketball. Over the next 12 years, the UCLA Bruins won 10 national championships. He won seven straight championships from 1967 to 1973. Three of the championship seasons were undefeated while establishing the current NCAA record of longest unbroken winning streak of 88 consecutive games. Wooden spent 40 coaching, 27 of them spent at UCLA. His final record was 620-147 with the Bruins. In all his years as coach, John Wooden prohibited his players from any use of profanity, and consistently avoided it himself. He never earned more than $35,000 a year from UCLA and never asked for a raise. He also turned down an opportunity to coach the Los Angeles Lakers, which could have paid him ten times more than his salary at UCLA. In 1977, the most prestigious of the college basketball’s player of the year awards was named the John R. Wooden Award. This award has reached the status of being the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for college basketball. In 1999, ESPN named Wooden the “Coach of the 20th Century”. In 2003, UCLA attempted to name the basketball court at Pauley Pavilion the “John and Nell Wooden Court”. Wooden insisted the court be named the "Nell and John Wooden Court," keeping Nell's name first. Wooden is also famous for his contribution “The Pyramid of Success”. Wooden was unsure about the definition of the word 'success'. Success wasn't about the final score as well as winning or losing. Wooden believed success was about the hard work and effort put forth in the drive to get to the final score. If you did your best in preparation and during competition, no matter what it was you were doing, then it was a successful regardless of what the outcome was. The foundation for the Pyramid is Industriousness, Friendship, Loyalty, Cooperation and Enthusiasm. The apex of it is Competitive Greatness. The pyramid has become an organizational and inspirational tool for coaches everywhere. Throughout his life and career, John Wooden established a reputation of honest success. He believed in keeping his word while investing yourself completely into whatever you chose to do. He has become and legend and hero, not only in Indiana but nationwide.

14, October. "99 Things about John Wooden." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2009. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
"John Wooden Biography." -- Academy of Achievement. N.p., 27 July 2013. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
"The Official Site of Coach John Wooden | Sponsored By McDonald's." N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Litsky, Frank, and John Branch. "John Wooden, Who Built Incomparable Dynasty at U.C.L.A., Dies at 99." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 June 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.