John Robert Wooden, 1910 - 2010
At ceremony naming Reseda post office for him (14 October 2006)
Born: 14 October 1910, Hall, Indiana
Died: 4 June 2010, Los Angeles, California
In 1918 the Wooden family moved to Centerton, and John started watching high school basketball. When he was fourteen they moved to Martinsville where he played the game, leading the team to three consecutive state finals and meeting Nell Riley at a carnival. He went to Purdue where he earned a degree in English in 1932, was the first ever three-time All-American, and married Nell in August. He taught high school English and coached basketball (and often baseball and tennis) until 1942 when he joined the Navy for three years. He coached basketball at Indiana State Teacher's College at Terre Haute for two years, not to mention coaching baseball, serving as athletic director, and completing his master's degree in education. In 1948 he was hired at UCLA. His teams there won 620 games and lost 147, including an 88-game streak, four perfect 30-0 seasons, and seven consecutive NCAA championships. In 1975, going for the Bruin's tenth championship, between winning the semifinal game and getting to the locker room, Wooden decided to retire. His team responded by winning the final game. His ten championships is unlikely to be beaten in men's basketball, although Pat Summitt's Tennesee Lady Vols, currently with eight, could top Wooden. (Her team has been to the Final Four thirteen times, beating Wooden's twelve.) Wooden considered himself a teacher first and coach second. He was the first person to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (1961) and coach (1972), and was NCAA basketball coach of the year six times. A lot of coaches sound like walking collections of motivational quotes, with Wooden they were original, and by all accounts he lived them as well as spouted them. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor in 1975. His marriage to Nell lasted until her 1985 death from cancer, he wrote her a love letter every month until his eyesight failed a few months before his death, stacking them up for her. Although he had a number of health issues in his later years, including both knee and hip replacements, his final hospitalization before succumbing to natural causes was just a week.
Biography from Wikipedia and New York Times obituary
John Wooden quotes:
Quotes found : 66 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 5) 1 2 3 4 5 Next
Click here to find books by John Wooden at Amazon.com
- A life not lived for others is not a life, a game not played for others is not a game. permalink
John Wooden - Interview with Charlie Rose on PBS (15 December 2000) - Ability is a poor man's wealth. permalink
John Wooden - Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. permalink
John Wooden - Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then. permalink
John Wooden - Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress. permalink
John Wooden - Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court (1997) - Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. permalink
John Wooden - Be quick, but don't hurry. permalink
John Wooden - Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top. permalink
John Wooden - Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court (1997) - Class is an intangible quality which commands, rather than demands, the respect of others. permalink
John Wooden - Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights. permalink
John Wooden - Discipline yourself and others won't need to. permalink
John Wooden - Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court (1997) - Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. permalink
John Wooden - Do not mistake activity for achievement. permalink
John Wooden - Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court (1997) - Don't beat yourself. That's the worst kind of defeat you'll ever suffer. permalink
John Wooden - Interview with Charlie Rose on PBS (15 December 2000) - Don't let making a living prevent you from making a life. permalink
John Wooden - Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court (1997)
Quotes found : 66 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 5) 1 2 3 4 5 Next
Please report any problems on this page! If you see any typos, incorrect attributions, deformed characters, or any other problem with this page, we want to fix it as soon
as possible. Please click here to report errors.
Note: Do not use titles in author searches, we don't use them, including president, senator, prime minister, king, queen, saint, pope, or doctor, or abbreviations thereof. See explanation here.
