From a basketball standpoint, there is no one better. The Sporting News named him the greatest coach of all-time, and with good reason. After all, he won 10 NCAA titles, including 7 straight from '67-'73 and 10 in a 12- year span, had 4 perfect seasons, an 88-game win streak, and 664 wins. 
He mentored two of the greatest college basketball players ever in Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul -Jabaar) and Bill Walton. He never swore, but that doesn't mean he wasn't fiesty. In an HBO interview I watched a few years ago about the UCLA dynasty, the interviewer said "Goodness gracious, sake's alive", Wooden's version of a profanity-laden tirade, to a bunch of his former players. Every one of them cringed. Forty years, and he could still have that same effect on his players, some who went on to basketball greatness. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said, "When I think of a basketball coach the only one I ever thought of was Coach Wooden." But what made Wooden so great was that he was so much more than a coach. He was a teacher, pure and simple. Unlike every other coach, he understood that basketball was a game, and when graduation time came, the character of the person who left his program was a heck of a lot more important than basketball player that left. There was no such thing as a star player, because without the other eleven guys, there is no success. When asked why he didn't retire numbers, specifically that of Alcindor, his response was, "What about the youngster who wore that number before Lewis? Didn't he contribute to the team?" No one was more important than his teammates. His "Pyramid of Success" was created to show how to succeed on the court and in life. And while 'competitive greatness' is at the top of the pyramid, the traits on the very bottom are the most important ones: enthusiasm, cooperation, loyalty, friendship, and industriousness. The message is simple -- Athletic achievement is not possible without the basic core values that all people should have. It's great to win, but to win without humility and class is horrible. He is still ashamed that he let Alcindor score 60 points in a game. Winning was important at Pauly Pavilion, but it wasn't the only thing, because Wooden would take great people over great basketball players every time. It was his job to make those two people one in the same, and no one was better at it.
He mentored two of the greatest college basketball players ever in Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul -Jabaar) and Bill Walton. He never swore, but that doesn't mean he wasn't fiesty. In an HBO interview I watched a few years ago about the UCLA dynasty, the interviewer said "Goodness gracious, sake's alive", Wooden's version of a profanity-laden tirade, to a bunch of his former players. Every one of them cringed. Forty years, and he could still have that same effect on his players, some who went on to basketball greatness. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said, "When I think of a basketball coach the only one I ever thought of was Coach Wooden." But what made Wooden so great was that he was so much more than a coach. He was a teacher, pure and simple. Unlike every other coach, he understood that basketball was a game, and when graduation time came, the character of the person who left his program was a heck of a lot more important than basketball player that left. There was no such thing as a star player, because without the other eleven guys, there is no success. When asked why he didn't retire numbers, specifically that of Alcindor, his response was, "What about the youngster who wore that number before Lewis? Didn't he contribute to the team?" No one was more important than his teammates. His Even after the Wooden Era at UCLA, his role as teacher never went away. Everyone who interacted with him, even for thirty seconds, was changed for the better. Rick Reilly wrote, "The awful thing about knowing John Wooden was that when you left him, you realized how weak you were as a man." Here is a man who never drank, smoked, or swore. He would attend Bruin games up until this year, but basketball was such a minute part of his life. He knew thousands of poems, read anything and everything, and was a devout Christian. Have a conversation with him, and basketball will rarely come up. Hall of Fame coach Lute Olsen asked Coach Wooden to talk to his team before his Arizona Wildcats played UCLA, and according to Olsen, he "spoke for 20 or 30 minutes. He never said a word about basketball, just talked about his philosophy of life and being the best that you could be."
What impressed me most about Coach Wooden was his eternal love for his wife, Nell. His high school sweetheart, the two were married for 52 years before she died of cancer in 1985. But his love for her didn't die with her. He stopped the clocks in his room to read the exact time she died.
No one has been under the covers of their bed, not even Wooden himself, let alone lied down on her side of the bed. And what I have a soft spot for, on the 21st of each month he would visit her grave and write her a letter, telling her how much he loved and missed her. Absolutely no one read the letters. They were his private messages to his sweet Nellie. He would place each letter on her pillow, where it remained, joining letters before and after it. To him, death was not something to fear. It was a chance to be reunited with his wife, a reunion over 25 years in the making. When UCLA wanted to name the court at Pauly Pavilion after him in 2003, Wooden said no because Nell's name was not originally going to be included. Then when the school proposed to name it "John and Nell Wooden Court", again he said no. Nell's name goes first. So now when teams go to play the Bruins, they play on "Nell and John Wooden Court". In a society where half of all marriages end in divorce, it's refreshing to see such unconditional love, eighty years after "I do".
No one has been under the covers of their bed, not even Wooden himself, let alone lied down on her side of the bed. And what I have a soft spot for, on the 21st of each month he would visit her grave and write her a letter, telling her how much he loved and missed her. Absolutely no one read the letters. They were his private messages to his sweet Nellie. He would place each letter on her pillow, where it remained, joining letters before and after it. To him, death was not something to fear. It was a chance to be reunited with his wife, a reunion over 25 years in the making. When UCLA wanted to name the court at Pauly Pavilion after him in 2003, Wooden said no because Nell's name was not originally going to be included. Then when the school proposed to name it "John and Nell Wooden Court", again he said no. Nell's name goes first. So now when teams go to play the Bruins, they play on "Nell and John Wooden Court". In a society where half of all marriages end in divorce, it's refreshing to see such unconditional love, eighty years after "I do".There is no one who doesn't like John Wooden, and I would offer you a million dollars to find someone who is too good for his wealth of knowledge. There is no one who can't learn something from Coach Wooden, and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him can most certainly walked away a better person. There are countless quotes I could end this with, but for someone who lived his life so genuinely and with such humility, it seems more fitting to end it with his Seven-Point Creed:
- Be true to yourself.
- Make each day your masterpiece.
- Help others.
- Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
- Make friendship a fine art.
- Build a shelter against a rainy day.
- Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.
It wasn't just UCLA, or just college basketball, or even basketball in general that lost a legend. The world lost a legend, and the world should be in mourning. One of its great men is gone. For someone who disliked the spotlight and all the accolades, there's nothing he would like less than to hear people were grieving over his death. Sorry, Coach. You're too important to not grieve.
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