John R. Wooden

John Wooden

John Wooden circa 1972
Sport(s)	Basketball
Biographical details
Born	(1910-10-14)October 14, 1910 Hall, Indiana
Died	June 4, 2010(2010-06-04) (aged 99) Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Playing career
1929–1932	Purdue
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1946–1948	Indiana State
1948–1975	UCLA
Head coaching record
Overall	664–162 (.804)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As player Helms and Premo-Porretta National Championships (1932) As coach 10× NCAA Division I Tournament Championships (1964, 1965, 1967–1973, 1975) 12× NCAA Regional Championships – Final Four (1962, 1964, 1965, 1967–1975)
Awards
As player 3× Consensus All-American (1930–1932) Helms Player of the Year (1932) NBL scoring leader (1933) NBL First Team (1938) As coach 5x AP College Coach of the Year (1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973) 7x Henry Iba Award (1964, 1967, 1969–1973) 5x NABC Coach of the Year (1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972) Presidential Medal of Freedom (2003)
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1960 & 1973
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006

John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball player and head coach at the University of California at Los Angeles. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood," he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period as head coach at UCLA, including a record seven in a row. No other team has won more than two in a row. Within this period, his teams won an NCAA men's basketball record 88 consecutive games. Wooden was named national coach of the year six times. He also won a Helms national championship at Purdue as a player 1931–1932 for a total of 11 national titles, a feat matched only by Geno Auriemma of NCAA women's basketball.

As a 5'10" guard, Wooden was the first to be named basketball All-American three times, and the 1932 Purdue team on which he played as a senior was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Wooden was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (1960) and as a coach (1973), the first person ever enshrined in both categories. Lenny Wilkens, Bill Sharman and Tommy Heinsohn are the only other basketball personalities who have since been accorded the same honors.

One of the most revered coaches in the history of sports, Wooden was beloved by his former players, among them Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton. Wooden was renowned for his short, simple inspirational messages to his players, including his "Pyramid of Success." These often were directed at how to be a success in life as well as in basketball. Wooden's 29-year coaching career and overwhelmingly positive critical acclaim have created a legacy of great interest in not only sports, but in business, personal success, and organizational leadership as well.