John Wooden- More Than Just A Coach

Often times many sports stars are put on plateaus almost undeserving. Athletes and coaches can be looked up for their play/coaching or the way they live their lives. They can be role models and some times become bad influences and lessons for children and young people to learn from. But one individual who deserves all the accolades and praise is former UCLA basketball head coach and legend, John Wooden. This past Friday, the sports world loss a legend in John Wooden at the ripe old age of 99. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1961 and then as a coach in 1973. He is one of only three individuals to have that distinction. During a 12 year span during the 1960s and 1970s, his UCLA teams claimed 10 titles. Those 10 titles are unmatched by any other coach as the next closest any other coach has is 4 with Adolf Rupp and Mike Krzyzewski.

Wooden, after a few gigs at other schools, took the reigns at UCLA in 1948 and over nearly 30 years he not only would leave a legacy in the sport, but leave a little of himself with all his former players. In addition to the 10 titles; including 7 in a row at one point; he won 620 games over 27 seasons. During the early 1970s, his teams enjoyed an 88 game winning streak; still a record. He also had four perfect 30 win teams, a 38 straight game winning streak in the NCAA Tournament, and 98 straight home wins. He won Coach of the Year honors 7 different times during those championship runs.

During his whole tenure, he never wanted a lot of money. He never demanded attention. He always shrugged off the accolades thrown at him. He truly was a Midwestern boy at heart. Since 1977, one of the top awards given out each year is named after him. It is essentially the Heisman Trophy of college basketball.

However, when I think of John Wooden I think about him as a philosopher and molder of young men. Wooden had a Seven Point Creed that he received from his father and passed it onto his student athletes. The Creed consisted of: 1) be true to yourself; 2) make each day your masterpiece; 3) help others; 4) drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible; 5) make friendship a fine art; 6) build a shelter against a rainy day; and 7) pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day. Additionally, Wooden had the Pyramid of Success. The Pyramid were building blocks for not just winning on the court, but more importantly off of it. Lastly, Wooden had life maxims like: failing to prepare is preparing to fail; flexibility is the key to stability; and be quick, but don't hurry.

Players were lucky to not only have Wooden as a coach for their basketball careers, but for their lives after college. He might have been one of the best coaches in all of sports ever, but he was an even better man. He is someone deserving of all the praise and allocations that we as a society are quick to give to almost anyone. We need to view our sports stars as a little more than just some athlete and give them double standards and the whole nine yards. Every should have character and those who don't such not be praised as highly. Wooden always deflected all those type of things and truly was a man of high character, who molted hundreds of young men who are better because of Wooden. That is only legacy Wooden truly needs to leave behind. Everything is icing on the cake for the life of a man who always put others before himself.