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John Wooden

John Wooden

John Wooden is a former college basketball head coach (mostly with the UCLA Bruins) and widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches the game has ever seen.

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    In John Wooden's 40 years as a head basketball coach he accum...

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    LA Laker star Jamaal Wilkes is among the many great players t...

  3. How many games has john wooden won?

    John Wooden coached the basketball team at UCLA for 27 years....

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    John Wooden was the basketball coach for UCLA. ChaCha!

  5. How many championships did John wooden win?

    John Wooden won ten national championships at UCLA as a coach...

  1. Who were the famous players John Wooden coached?

    LA Laker star Jamaal Wilkes is among the many great players t...

  2. Why was john wooden so good at coaching basketball?

    Aside from having great players, he was calm & sensible. His ...

  3. What is significant about John Wooden?

    Under Wooden, UCLA won an unprecedented 10 NCAA championships...

  4. What team did John Wooden coach?

    John Wooden was the basketball coach for UCLA. ChaCha!

  5. How many championships did John wooden win?

    John Wooden won ten national championships at UCLA as a coach...

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  1. Which quote of John Wooden is the best?

    "Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be gratef...

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    John Wooden was the basketball coach for UCLA. ChaCha!

  3. How many championships did John wooden win?

    John Wooden won ten national championships at UCLA as a coach...

  4. How many NCAA championships did John wooden win?

    John Wooden has won 10 NCAA championships, including seven co...

  5. How long did John Wooden coach at UCLA?

    John Wooden coached UCLA 1948 through 1975. John had 10 NCAA ...

About John Wooden

Born: John Robert Wooden, October 14, 1910, in Hall, Indiana

Known for: Being the greatest coach in history, his 88 game winning streak, and his wise counsel and care for his NCAA athletes

The man that many consider history's greatest coach was born in a farmhouse with no electricity and running water. His parents lost the farm and he and his family moved to Martinsville, Indiana, 30 miles south of Indianapolis. He was originally an English teacher, and only later became a nationally known coach. He was known for his care and concern for athletes, and his ability to teach, above all. He attended Purdue University and paid his tuition by working construction jobs during the summer.

In an interview in 1995 with the New York Times, he said he had three major core teachings for his players: 1) Quickness, 2) Be in the best possible condition, and 3) Teamwork. He did not approve of 'hot dogging' on the court.

An inspiration to English majors everywhere, John Wooden was a modest, carefully-spoken man, whose path to basketball greatness was a slow one (Source: New York Times obituary)

1) Basketball All-American at Purdue, at 5 ft. 10, 175-pound guard and team captain

2) In 1932 he led Purdue's team to win the Helms Foundation's national championship, and named Player of the Year, while achieving the highest GPA of any Purdue athlete that year

3) Taught at South Bend Central H.S. in Indiana for nine years, while coaching basketball. His record was 218-42.

4) Served in the Navy from 1943 - 1946 as a physical ed. instructor. Indiana State hired him as athletic director and basketball/baseball coach. There he began to make his reputation as a brilliant coach and leader and advisor to young collegiate athletes.

He began his career at UCLA in 1948, earning $6,000 a year. He never earned more than $40,000 a year at the end of his coaching career. He was the first person elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach.

In his retirement he was sought after for his speeches on character building and how it is the bedrock of success. His 'Pyramid of Success' speech included 15 building blocks, including industriousness, alertness and poise, with faith and patience as the glue holding it all together.

His players say the precepts stuck with them. His legacy is in the quotes from some of the great athletes that he coached, and taught, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: There was no ranting and raving, no histrionics or theatrics. To lead the way Coach Wooden led takes a tremendous amount of faith. He was almost mystical in his approach, yet that approach only strengthened our confidence. Coach Wooden enjoyed winning, but he did not put winning above everything. He was more concerned that we became successful as human beings, that we earned our degrees, that we learned to make the right choices as adults and as parents. In essence, he was preparing us for life.

Abdul-Jabbar described Wooden's coaching technique: He broke basketball down to its basic elements, Abdul-Jabbar wrote in The New York Times in 2000. He always told us basketball was a simple game, but his ability to make the game simple was part of his genius. (Source: New York Times obituary)

Wooden carried in his wallet the following sayings from his father, and strived to live by them: Be true to yourself. Make each day a masterpiece. Help others. Drink deeply from good books. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day. Players coached by Wooden testified to how he stressed that we have only today and that we must not worry about the past or the future. He was almost mystical about it.

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John Wooden