NCAA Basketball: The Great John Wooden
John Wooden, who died June 4 at the age of 99, was an icon in NCAA College Basketball. Born in 1910 in the town of Hall, Indiana, as a young boy his basketball idols were Fuzzy Vandivier and Franklin Wonder Five. When he was 14 his family moved to a town called Martinsville, he led the high school team to the state championship finals for three consecutive years, winning the tournament in 1927. He was a three time All-State selection.
Wooden met his future wife, Nell Riley, at a carnival in July 1926. They got married in 1932 and to celebrate, they went to a Mills Brothers concert. John and his wife had a son named James Hugh Wooden, and a daughter named Nancy Anne Muehlhausen.
Unfortunately, his wife Nell died from cancer on March 21st, 1985. Even after her death, Wooden remained faithful to his wife. He visited her grave on the 21st of every month. Wooden began coaching at Dayton High School in Kentucky. His first year coaching would be the only year where He would have a losing record. The ended the season with 6 wins and 11 losses. After Dayton, Wooden went back to Indiana to coach at South Bend Central High School. He ended his high school coaching career at 218 wins and 42 losses. He had to enter the WWII and delay his coaching career.
After World War II Wooden coached at Indiana Teacher’s College also knows as Indiana State, where he also served as the Athletic Director. In 1947, Wooden’s basketball team won the Indiana Collegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City.
Wooden declined the offer due to the policies of banning African American players. Wooden had an African American player on his team and found it to be offensive to go into a team tournament and leave out a member of his team. In 1948, Wooden led his team to the NAIB tournament finals again. Wooden now accepted the bid due to the policies of banning African American Players had changed. However, Indiana State lost to Louisville in the finals. This was the only championship game a Wooden-coached team ever lost. John Wooden was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame on February 3, 1984.
Wooden then Coached UCLA from 1948 to 1975. He would go on to win a total of 620 in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. He also led his UCLA team to the longest winning streak of 88 wins in a row, a record which has yet to be broken.
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