John Wooden: A warrior of his Age
"Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day." – John Wooden
John Wooden or John Robert Wooden for his complete name was born in the town of Hall, Indiana in the 14th day of October in the year 1910. He was an American Basketball player and at the same time he was coaching at his time. Wooden was given the title “The Indiana Rubber Man" for his depths of despair plummets on the hard-court. He took his college and graduated from Purdue in the year 1932 with a degree in English. John Wooden won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year time — seven in a rank— as a head coach at UCLA. Truly, John Wooden has an extraordinary achievement. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 successive games. For six times in history John Wooden was named national coach of the year. As a coach, he experienced being a demand for everybody. It comes to the point that his salary goes high but he did not abused it, the proof for this is the quoted written by Rick Reilly of ESPN "He never made more than $35,000 a year salary (not including camps and speaking engagements), including 1975, the year he won his 10th national championship, and never asked for a raise,".
Among all of the Basketball coaches, John Wooden was one of the most holy coaches and was befriended and loved by his previous players, between them Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden was famous for his short, simple inspirational messages to his players, including his "Pyramid of Success." Because of this mind set, he put it in his mind that being pleasant is one way to be successful in life and in his career which is the basketball.
Pyramid of Success
"Great win coach, this makes up for letting us down last year" – John Wooden
In Kentucky, Wooden coached for two years in the Dayton High School. His first year at Dayton noticed the only time he was lose in a record of 6–11 as a coach. After in Dayton High School, he comes back to Indiana. He taught English and coached basketball at South Bend Central High School waiting to enter in the Armed Forces. After his eleven years of coaching in high school, two at Dayton and nine at Central, his record was 218–42.
After World War II, Wooden coached in Terre Haute, Indiana at the Indiana Sate Teacher’s College which was the Indiana State University now from the year 1946 to 1948 after his high school coach, Glenn Curtis. Wooden took his Master’s degree and served as Athletic Director. In addition to his duties as basketball coach, in 1947, Wooden's basketball team won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City. Wooden declined the invitation, referring to that NAIB's policies were banning African American players. One of his players was Clarence Walker, an African-American from East Chicago, Indiana.
At that same year, Wooden was called by Purdue University which was his alma mater and wanted him to work as an assistant to then-head coach Mel Taube until the contract of Taube expires. Then, Wooden will replace him as head coach and take over the program. Referring his loyalty to Taube, Wooden declined because this would make Taube a lame duck coach.
In year 1948, Wooden once again led the Indiana state to the conference title. This time, the NAIB is allowing the African-American players to join the game and because of this Wooden and his team accepted the invitation. However, they lost to Louisville in the finals. This was the only championship game that Wooden lost. That same year, Walker was known as the first African-American basketball player to play in any post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament. In February 3, 1984, John Wooden was introduced to the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
In 2008, the Indiana State named the court at Hulman Center ”The Nellie and John Wooden Court” named after John Wooden and his wife, Nelie. The event included recorded comments from Coach Wooden and the participation of members of his 1946-47 and 1947-48 teams. The Sycamores was the first to play in the newly-named floor by defeating the Albion College (MI) Britons in an exhibition game.
His Inspiration
"If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me” –John Wooden
"I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Saviour”. –John Wooden
Wooden’s inspiration was his family and his faith to God. Wooden’s parents were Roxie Anna and Joshua Hugh Wooden. He had five siblings namely: Maurice, Daniel, and William and his two more sisters. His two sisters died before triumphing the age of three. The one was unnamed and died in infancy while his sister Cordelia died from diphtheria when she was two.
July 1926, when Wooden was scrolling to the carnival he met Nellie (Nell) his wife now. On August 1932, they decided to get married in a small ceremony in Indianapolis. Afterwards, they watched Mills Brothers concert at the Circle Theatre to celebrate. Before Nellie died on March 21, 1985 because of the cancer, John and Nell had a son named James Hugh Wooden, and a daughter, Nancy Anne Muehlhausen.
Wooden was very faithful to Nellie, even decades after her death until he died. He always kept to a monthly ritual since the death of his wife. On the 21st, Wooden went to his wife’s grave and wrote a love letter. He placed his letter inside an envelope and added it to a collection of similar letters that was collected over the years of their relationship on his wife’s pillow. However, Wooden stopped writing letters because of failing eyesight.
In grief of Nellie's death, Wooden was eased by his faith. He was a religious Christian and basketball was not the most important thing in his life, it’s his belief. To prove this, he once said: "I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior." Wooden's devotion to his faith strongly influenced his life. He always read bible and attend the first mass. He hoped that others would notice his faith and serve it as an inspiration: "If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me."
John Wooden showed evidences that having a job can become your career or a passion. But for Wooden, he treated it as his passion and live by it with joy and thankful. An example of that is when one of his players wasn’t able to play because of such difference, but still he chose to be a friend than to be a coach. Wooden also showed his love and care for his family, he is certified a “Warrior of his time” not only to his player, career and fans but also to his Personal Saviour which is his God.
