July 28, 2025 • 38 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Coach John Wooden led UCLA to 10 national championships, but his legacy runs deeper than wins. His Pyramid of Success reshaped how we think about coaching, competition, and character. Told through the voices of those who knew him best, this story explores how a humble Indiana native became one of the most respected figures in sports history.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories.
During John Wooden's twenty seven years at UCLA, he coached
the Bruins to four undefeated seasons in a record ten
national championships. He was the first person inducted into the
National Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and
as a coach, and the NCAAA and ESPN both named
(00:34):
him the greatest coach of the twentieth century. The story
we are about to hear from Greg Hangler is told
by John Wooden himself, his family, his friends, and his players.
Here's John Wooden.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I grew up at Centert Tom about eight miles north
of Martinsville, and we lived on a farm there. But
I think the person probably had most influenced on me
throughout my mother in particularly my father. He said, there's
always time for play, that's after the chores and the
studies are done. Of course, he read to us every night.
(01:09):
We didn't have electricity or running water or anything on
the farm, and he read poetry and resisted scriptures to
us every night. Just being born in Indiana in those years,
and any young fellow is going to be interest in basketball,
and he's just the natural thing. Dad tacked up an
automato basket, and mother took an old cotton sock and
(01:33):
filled it with a rags, making a round as possibly could.
And that's where I first started. I went to grade
school in Centerton. My father, I think as a man
for whom the word gentleman was coined, because he truly
was a gentleman, something that he gave me. When I
graduated from a small country grade school at Centerton, there
(01:56):
was a little card that had a creed of seven points.
The first one was be true to yourself. The next
point was make each day your masterpiece. The third one
was help others. The fourth one was make friendship of
fine art. Another one was build a shelter against a
(02:20):
rainy day. Another one was drink deeply from good books,
most important the good book. And then the last point
in this creed was every day and every evening, pray
for guidance and give thanks for your blessings. My first
(02:42):
year in high school commuted on ian urban that ran
from Indianapolis to Martinsville. And then we lost the farm
after my freshman year and we moved into Martinsville. I
met the young lady, the only girl whom I ever went.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
With here's John's daughter, Nancy.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
My dad was very, very shy, worked on the farm.
My mother was a city girl from Martinsville. She came
out with some friends that had a car and he
was working in the field and he wouldn't come over
to the car. They kept motioning over and he was plowing,
and he said he was dirty and sweaty and his overall.
(03:24):
And then when school started again, my mother made a
bee line for him and said, you know, why didn't
you come over? And he said, I wasn't cleaned up,
and I was ashamed. And she said, you know, John Bob,
that's what she called him until they were in their thirties.
I would never be ashamed of you. And he knew
(03:47):
right then that that.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Was for him.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
In nineteen twenty four, Martinsville built Indiana's largest high school, gymnasium.
It sat five thousand, two hundred and twenty eight, four
hundred and twenty eight more more than the population of
the town. During basketball season, coach Glenn Curtis established a
policy of no dating and home by eight pm for
(04:10):
his players. Nelly countered by joining the pep band before
every game. John winked at Nelly seated with her bandmates.
She gave him an OK sign and he waved back
at her. It was the beginning of a pregame ritual
that would last for half a century. While playing for
legendary coach Ward Piggy Lambert at Purdue, John was a
(04:34):
three time All American and won a national championship. After
his senior season, John played a few professional basketball games
for the Chicago Bruins, and this was twenty five years
before the NBA, but was hesitant about their lucrative offers
to play full time. He sought advice from his coach
at Purdue.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
When I graduated from Purdue, for a lot of money
in those days, a lot of money to play semipro
basketball with a traveling team and just be traveling around
all over playing games. And there's a lot of money.
And I talked to mister Lambert, my coach, Piggy Dambert
(05:16):
was a man of his high principles. There's anyone I've
ever known, very very high principles told me about this.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
He says, that's a lot of money, and yes, yes,
he said, you're going to take it. Oh, I said,
what do you mean? He said, what did you come
to do for I said, to get an education. Did
you get it? And I said, well, I hope so well.
He said, I wouldn't throw it away if I were you,
But you's something you have to do yourself. But remember this,
(05:44):
you can't play in dirt and not get dirty.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Two days before John and Nelly's wedding, a bank failure
claimed John's life savings of nine hundred and nine dollars
and twenty five cents. Here's John and daughter Nancy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Nellie and I were married in Indianapolis on August eighth,
nineteen thirty two, and my brother and his girlfriend, who
had a car, drove us up and then they.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Lived another was very outgoing. My dad was very, very shy,
and she encouraged him in high school to take a
public speaking course because he just kind of always set
his head down. And I think she was very instrumental
in getting him to become less shy with people. They
(06:30):
were totally opposite, so I think that's always a big attraction.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but in this case
it worked beautifully.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
A few weeks after their wedding, Nellie and John moved
to Dayton, Kentucky, where he had taken a job as
a high school English teacher, athletic director, and head coach
of three sports, including football, which he had never played.
When one Surly player challenged Coach Wooden's authority, a brief
physical altercation followed. John was immediately ashamed. John rehired the
(07:05):
former football coach and turned all of his attention to basketball.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
And what a story we're hearing John Wooden's story when
we come back more of this remarkable life story, the
story of John Wooden here on our American Stories. Folks,
(07:29):
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(07:50):
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American stories coming. That's our American Stories dot Com. And
we continue with our American Stories and the life story
(08:12):
of John Wooden. Let's return to Greg Hangler with more.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Nancy Ann Wooden arrived in March of nineteen thirty four.
But after two years in Dayton, John Nellie and Nancy
moved to a new opportunity in South Bend, Indiana.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I don't think South Bend knew wonder I'd be a
good English teacher or not. They hoped for my background
that I could maybe be a pretty good basketball, baseball coach.
I wanted to be the best English teacher. I ran
across a couple of things that made them impression on me.
No written word, no oral plea. And teach our youth
(08:50):
what they should be, Nor all the books on all
the shelves. It's what the teachers are themselves that made
impression on me.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
John's school year was filled with teaching, coaching, and play
professional games on the weekends. But when America entered World
War Two in nineteen forty one, everything changed. Here's John
and Nancy.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I enlisted, and probably they probably the major disagreement that
my their wife and I had in all our years,
said she didn't think I should do.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
She was upset because Daddy enlisted without and they always
talked everything over. But in this particular thing, at this
particular time, he just wanted to do that. He said,
so his son would never have to, and I can
remember being very frightened.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
In the aftermath of World War Two, many young men
went to college. John went back to his job in
South Bend, but then his former high school coach, Glenn Curtis,
recommended him for the head coaching position at Indiana State.
After eleven years as a high school basketball coach, John
and Nelly moved to Tara Hate in the summer of
nineteen forty six. When I wouldn't held tryouts in October,
(10:02):
the gymnasium overflowed with candidates. The team's record during the
first season earned them an invitation to THENIB tournament in
Kansas City. That is, as long as they didn't bring
Clarence Walker, the only black man on the team. Coach
Wooden said his team would not play. Here's Kevin Walker
(10:23):
and Indiana State players.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
My father's name was Clarence Jordan Walker, and his connection
with John Wooden was he was a basketball player at
Indiana State. Through the years of growing up, my father
really never talked much about his days in college. However,
it's his one day I was a senior in high
(10:45):
school and we lost our regional championship basketball game. I
was a little distraught about it, of course, and my
father came up to me, say, I got something I
want you to see. And it was more of a
diary that he he kept on himself and the Indiana
State basketball team.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And everything that they went through.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Everywhere that they had to go, where he could play,
where he couldn't play, even to the point of the
places that he could not even go. And I started
asking him questions about it. He would just say, you know,
this is how it was back then. Every day was
a different day, and every day has its own trouble. Well,
(11:27):
John Wooden, from me reading that portion of the diary
told me about his character and his Christian discipleship. Actually,
where he would if we don't take the whole, we're
not going at all. And what I mean by the
whole his team that was like his family, and not
(11:49):
one was greater than the other.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
When you became associated with coach wood and while you
were gonna be one of his family, he's.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
One of my boys, he would say, no, we're not coming.
We didn't see color, none of it. Wouldn't steam serve
us all color.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
We would stop at a restaurant along the way and
somebody would refuse to allow him to eat with us.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And the manager says, we don't feed people like this,
so we all decided to leave. That's what we did.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
I think the only thing that really kept his mind
straight was his family and his faith in God. He
was god fearing man, taught us and still christianed the
discipleship and stewardship within us.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
As a family.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Probably the most significant was just his desire to show
all men are created equal.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
The next year, the league changed the policy and Clarence
Walker traveled with the team to Kansas City. There, he
became the first black man to play in a postseason
national collegiate basketball tournament. Wherever John went, his wife was
always beside him. Here's a couple of Indiana State players
and John's daughter, Nancy.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
She was a pretty lady, feisty.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
I think she was a feisty little Irish girl.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Feisty.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
That's a good word for her.
Speaker 6 (13:25):
Coach wouldn't have said that Nelle was the most important
thing in his life, and he feels that he would
not have been anything without Nelly.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And asked many times about my family and growing up.
And I continue to think and feel and say that
I wish everyone would be as fortunate as I was
to grow up in a family where my mother and
dad loved each other and loved my brother genleally.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
For many years, John Wooden had been contemplating the nature
of success.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I wanted to come up with a different definition of
success than mister Website. I wanted to be more than
just the material possessions are prestige. And my dad, I remembered,
he tried to teachings that never ceased, trying to do
the best. You can do it, whatever it is, and
it's more or less forgotten that probably it went in
(14:24):
one ear and out the other in the time. And
then I read a short verse that said, at God's
footstool to confess a poor soul, melt and bound his head.
I failed, he cried. The Master said, now it's my best.
That is success. From those I coined my own definition
of success in nine hundred and thirty four. I choose
(14:47):
to define it as peace of mind attained only through
self satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do
the best of which you're capable, and you're the only
one that knows that you know. Nobody else knows fool others,
but you can't fool yourself inside character and reputation. Your character,
you're the old one. There's your character. Your reputation is
(15:08):
what you're perceived to be by others, but your character
is what you really are.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Coach Wouldn't developed a teaching tool called the Pyramid of Success.
It was not just for his players, but a goal
for him to pursue as well. Coach Wooden's record at
Indiana State caught the attention of several large universities, including
the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and the UCLA Bruins.
(15:34):
John and Nelly's first choice was Minnesota, and he was
ready to accept their promised offer, but their phone call
was delayed by a snowstorm in Minneapolis. Here's John's colleague
and friend, Tom Osborne.
Speaker 9 (15:49):
Somehow, because of communication issue, their offer got to him late,
and he'd already told the people at UCLA he would go.
Probably he would have preferred to go to Minnesota because
in the Midwest. And Buddy said, well, once he had
given his word, that was it. So he went to UCLA.
(16:10):
And you wonder in today's culture how many coaches would
do that.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
At UCLA football was king. The basketball team had a
losing record. They shared the space with the gymnastics team,
and its seating was half the capacity of John Wooden's
high school. But John Wooden focused on his opportunity. He
told the Los Angeles Daily News, no team is going
to outrun or out hustle the Bruins this season. Slated
(16:41):
to finish last, UCLA captured the division championship in nineteen
forty nine. Here's UCLA players Keith Erickson, Marcus Johnson, Doug McIntosh,
and daughter Nancy.
Speaker 10 (16:54):
Even though I grew up in a little city called
El Segundo, not too far from here, my horizons weren't
real broad, so I had never even seen UCLA play.
I had never heard about Coach, wouldn't He was just
another coach when I got here, a nice, nice little
guy and ran a pretty tight ship, and I was
(17:14):
happy to be here.
Speaker 11 (17:15):
He really taught us the basics in every facet of
the game, and started with putting on your socks. And
it's funny because I have a twelve year old that
I just had to reinstruct for the twentieth time on
how to tie his shoe. You know, his shoes always
come loose during the game. Dude, tie your shoes up,
so you started just tying them a half hats and
I said, no, no, no, you got to start at
the bottom, pull each shoe string up two at a time, tight, tight, tight,
(17:39):
all the way to the top. And I thought about that.
I didn't say it to him, but that's the way
Coach wouldn't taught us.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
What a coach?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
What a story? When we continue more of John Wooden's
life story here on our American stories, and we returned
(18:09):
to our American stories in Coach wooden story, here is
player Keith Ericksson, and he won two national championships playing
for Coach wood in nineteen sixty four. In nineteen sixty five.
Speaker 10 (18:23):
Coach Woulden did all of his work during the week.
His canvas was teaching us during the week, and he
loved that time of practice.
Speaker 12 (18:32):
He was a guy who always felt, I think that
we were inclined to coddle ourselves and make it easy
on ourselves, and so he wanted to push us to excellence.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
He prepared two hours every morning for two and a
half hours for our two and a half hour practice.
Every afternoon.
Speaker 11 (18:52):
We did things like imaginary shooting fields where you'd have
an imaginary basketball and you'd shoot the ball, this imaginary ball.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
And work on your work when you're followed.
Speaker 11 (19:01):
Through and your rotation, and you had to see the
ball kind of going through the hoop. So wist would blow.
We'd shoot this would blow. We'd shoot this imaginary ball.
And Coach was you know, he was into it like
it was a real ball.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
You know.
Speaker 11 (19:12):
Make sure you hold it here and make sure you
get to rotate. You got a good put your finger
bright on the whole year and go through the whole thing.
But you know, in my mind, I want to say, coach,
but there's no ball.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I don't know what the there's no ball.
Speaker 12 (19:21):
His concern was always to get the maximum out of
what we had to work with. You can't you can't
put in what God left out, but you can you
can seek to at least some maximize what God put in.
Speaker 10 (19:33):
And then when we got to the games, we would
meet beforehand he would tell us, you know, just to
do our best play together, and then he would sit
down on the bench and we would play.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Usually he had his program pulled it up in one hand,
and I had his cross in his other hand. That
and I only found this out in later years, but
our minister from the First Christian Church and South Bend
gave it to Daddy when he went into the service,
and it was very unusual. It had the alpha and
(20:03):
the omega on it, and he had his little ritual
before the games, of course, you know, kind of pull
up his socks and pat his assistant and then turn
around and look at my mother end she giving the
high sign. From then on it was up to his team.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
In nineteen sixty three, John Wooden made some changes that
brought dramatic results. Here again is Keith Erickson and Doug McIntosh.
Speaker 12 (20:29):
In sixty four, we were not considered to be a
serious threat even to win the conference. We were playing Duke,
which was a considerably larger team physically than we were,
and we were underdogs in the finals. After twenty nine
straight wins, we were still underdogs, but we played a
game that the same kind of game we played all year.
Speaker 10 (20:51):
We wore them out in the middle of the game.
We had to run, and that's what won our ball
games for us. Coach wouldn't always told us never get
too high, never get too low, and after the championship
he was right there. The fact that we won the
whole thing was you know, that was a goal of
his and he was very happy to have that goal.
(21:12):
But he was excited that we had done as well
as we could. That's what he always preached and taught,
you know, to be a team, to play together, and
to be the best that you could be.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
The next year, UCLA repeated as national champions, setting forth
what would become the greatest dynasty in college sports. Wooden
became known as the Wizard of Westwood, Yet the only
magic he ever relied on was his faith and common sense.
During the following decade, the Bruins dominated college basketball. Here's
(21:44):
coach Wooden and UCLA great Bill Walton telling the haircut story.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Bill Walton was an unusual person in so many ways.
He wasn't a rebel, as some people have called him. However,
he was just one of those in the sixties of
the anti establishment as far as basketball, and you couldn't
have a finer person on your team than Bill Walton.
(22:13):
But between practices I had concerns.
Speaker 13 (22:16):
I thought I was free, free, free at last when
I left home to go to UCLA. And here we
were in the age of Nixon and Vietnam and Watergate,
rock and roll exploding on the scene, and I thought
I was just going to be up there totally on
my own, having the time in my life. But then
there was Coach Wooden standing right there on the steps saying,
come right on in here, young man.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Your mine for the next four years. He knew that
I had certain rules and as such as and I
didn't prem an extra long hair and beards. We had
one period between games of about ten days and he
didn't shave, and it didn't look like that. He said
to me after, Coach, can I talk to you? And
(22:58):
I said, sernay, I said you can talk before a
Ducade that was our trainer and Cissington. He said, well,
I just wasn't going to shave. Oh, I said, yes,
I'd heard that Bill had been You'd bended that around
and it got around that you weren't going to shave.
And do you believe in this strong go? Yes, yes,
I believe in it very strongly. And I said, I
have great respect and admiration for people who stand up
(23:21):
for the things that in which they believe. I do, Bill,
and we're going to miss you. And he stood there
for a minute and said I'll shave.
Speaker 13 (23:33):
I fought with Coach wouldn't over these incredibly meaningless things.
At the time, I thought they were the most important
things in the world. I've got a saying on my
desk from Coach wouldn't at home. It's the things we
learn after we know it all that really count in
our lives. Those lessons in life are truly the greatest ones.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I believe one of the greatest motivating things we have
is the pat on the back. I think we all
like that. I know that sometimes the path has to
be a little lower and a little harder, but I
still believe that the paddle back. Everybody likes praise. If
I ask you here, if raise your hand, if you
like praise, if every hand didn't go up, I think
(24:14):
there's some liars in here, because I think everyone likes
praise and think that. I think most people like to
live up to expectations. They like to live up to
the expectations. Not all of them have the poise to
do that, but I think everyone really like. You'd like
to please people. You don't like to displease people in anything,
(24:37):
and I think most people are that way. And I
think the greatest motivating factor, don't get him do that
is the pat on the back, not necessary physically, just
a word, maybe a smile, maybe a nod, And I
think that's the greatest motivating factor we have.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
In December nineteen seventy two, coach Wouldn't suffered a mild
heart attack. At the end of that season, UCLA won
at seventh consecutive national title, no team had ever won
more than four, and was writing a seventy five game
winning streak. In January nineteen seventy four, a one point
loss ended UCLA's eighty eight game winning streak. At the
(25:15):
NCAA Semifinals, North Carolina State defeated the Bruins eighty to
seventy seven in double overtime. John Wooden struggled as never
before with the pressure of success.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
If you're in this type of profession, when you're in
the public eye, you're going to have ups and downs.
You're going to have praise, You're going to have criticism.
Some that's going to be deserved and some of the
some of it isn't. But your strength, now, I don't
care whether you're a teacher, a surgeon, or whatever you are.
Your strength depends on how you react to both praise
(25:50):
and criticism. You can't either one affect you. I first
heard this at an FCA conference and s Park, Colorado,
in the early years of the FCA. This crowd on earth,
they soon forget the heroes of the past. They cheer
(26:11):
like mad until you fall, and that's how long you last.
But God he never does forget. And in his Hall
of fame, by just believing in his son inscribed you'll
find your name. I tell you, friends, I would not
trade my name, however small, inscribed up there beyond the stars,
(26:36):
in that celestial hall, for any famous name on earth
or glory that they share. I'd rather be an unknown
here and have my name up there, wouldn't we all.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
And you've been listening to John, wouldn't hearing that story
about Bill Walton and so much today you hear in
current events and in the news about the kids being
the leaders of the teams and the coaches doing whatever
the kids say, and we all know that doesn't make sense.
When we come back more of this remarkable life story,
(27:14):
this remarkable man, John Wooden's story continues here on our
American stories. And we continue with our American stories and
(27:39):
John Wooden's story. Let's return to Greg Hangler with more.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
After almost forty years of coaching. Retirement was on the
horizon for John Wooden, but nobody knew for sure when,
not even coach Wooden, until one Saturday night in nineteen
seventy five, after defeating Louisville in overtime at the NCAA
Semi Finals in San Diego. When the game ended, instead
(28:05):
of going to meet the press as he usually did,
John Wooden made his way to the UCLA locker room.
Here's Marcus Johnson.
Speaker 11 (28:15):
Coach Wooden comes in and just kind of tells us to,
you know, pipe down, you know, get quiet, quiet, quiet.
I got something to say to you guys. And so
he came in and talked about how he was happy
with the job that we had done, and we had
played a great game, and that he had been thinking
about this a long time and had come to the
conclusion that the next game, that Monday night, the championship game,
(28:38):
would be his last game, and that he was going
to retire and get out of coaching. You know, everybody
felt like they had been kind of punched.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
In the chest.
Speaker 11 (28:48):
He told us that and walked out. And Andre McCarter,
who was the captain of that team, was kind of
our spiritual compass in terms of how he looked at things,
and he pulled us all together. It's like, guys, look,
you know, there's no way that we're going to let
coach wouldn't not go out a national champion. You know,
there's just no way that's going to happen. And we
all kind of looked at each other and said, yeah, yeah,
(29:09):
you're right, there's no way we don't let that happen.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
UCLA be Kentucky ninety two to eighty five. In retirement,
coach wouldn't Speaking. Engagements in basketball camps for young players
kept him busy, and of course his theme at these
events was always the pyramid of success, his teaching tool
of universal truths to help people reach their full potential.
(29:34):
Here's Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and the coach.
Speaker 13 (29:39):
He made basketball fund. I mean he made basketball fund,
he made life fund.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It was never a drag.
Speaker 8 (29:44):
Coach Wooden was cool because he got us up to
a very sharp edge. But he never was like I
think a guy running a dog sled team. You know,
he never had to do that. You know, he's very calm.
His leadership was very calm, and we were very focus
and we'd go out there and tear people apart, but
it wasn't a whole lot of wild passion to it.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Passion. Passion is temporary, it doesn't last long. Love is enduring,
and that's the important thing. If we all had love
in our lives the degree that we should have, oh,
it would be much happier. I like a little poem
that says, a bell isn't a bell until you ring it.
(30:30):
A song isn't a song until you sing it. And
the love that does in us wasn't put there to stay.
Love isn't love til you give it away. That's the
important thing. Most important word in our.
Speaker 8 (30:42):
Dictionary things would in the order of nell as kids
and in basketball, and he was maybe fifth. We're talking
about a very selfless man. We always knew how important
his family was to him, his uh son and daughter
and their it's a lot of love and support, and
it was obvious to us that family unit really supported him,
(31:06):
and that was all the approval he really needed.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Nellie passed at age seventy three on March twenty first,
nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
I was very first, very very Forstan Nellie. It was
my high school Streeter's the only girl I ever did,
and we had fifty three wonderful years together before I
lost her. But she was so cooperative in every way,
and I think we need help to help you do
(31:37):
what your cap blue doing. She was. She was great.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
For the next two decades. On the twenty first day
of every month, John wrote a love letter to Nelly.
Every year brought new honors and awards to Coach Wooden.
He received each one graciously while keeping him mine a favorite, saying,
talent is God given, be humble, fame is man given.
(32:07):
Be thankful, conceit is self given. Be careful.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Today is the only important day of your life. Yes,
it is gone, It'll never change. Tomorrow can only be
affected by what you do in preparation today, and failure
to prepare is preparing to fail. My favorite poet is me.
(32:34):
I'm a rhymer. I'll give you one that I wrote
recently if you'd like to hear it. The years have
left their imprint on my hands and on my face. Erect.
No longer is my walk and slower is my pace,
But there is no fear within my heart. Because I'm
growing old. I only wish I had more time to
(32:55):
better serve my Lord when I've gone to him in prayer,
he has brought me inner peace, and soon my cares
and worries and other problems. See, She's helped me in
so many ways. He's never let me down. Why should
I fear the future when soon I could be near
his crown. Though I know down here my time is short,
there is endless time up there, and he will forgive
(33:18):
and keep me ever in his loving care. I'm a rhymer.
That's a rhyme, not talk.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
John Wooden met his maker on June fourth, twenty ten.
He was ninety nine years old. Let's finish the story
with Keith Erickson speaking at John Wooden's memorial service on
UCLA's campus.
Speaker 10 (33:42):
Here's what I remember about Coach Wooden. Kind of a
man he was. He was honest, he was wise, he
was humble, he was fun, he was kind, he was gentle.
He was a man of faith. He was a man
of the Bible. And I repeat to you what he
(34:03):
told me that Jesus was the lord of his life.
On the twenty first of the month, the best man
I know will do what he always does on the
twenty first of the month. He'll sit down and pin
a love letter to his only girl. He'll say how
much he misses her and loves her and can't wait
to see her again. Then he'll fold at once, slide
(34:26):
it a little envelope, and walk into his bedroom. He'll
go to the stack of love letters sitting there on
her pillow, Untie the yellow ribbon, place the new one
on top, Tie the ribbon again. There's never never been
another coach like coach. Woudn't quiet as in April snow square,
as a game of checkers, loyal to one woman, one school,
(34:49):
one way, walking around campus in his sensible shoes and
Jimmy Stewart morals, discipline yourself and others.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Won't need to coach with.
Speaker 10 (35:00):
Say never lie, never cheat, never steal, and earn the
right to be proud and confident. If you played for him,
you played by his rules. Never score without acknowledging a teammate.
One word of profanity and you're done for the day.
Treat your opponents with respect. He believed in a hopelessly
out of date stuff that never did anything but win championships.
(35:24):
No dribbling behind the back or through the legs. There's
no need, he'd say, no long hair and no facial hair.
They take too long to dry, and you can catch
cold leaving the gym. He'd say that one drove his
players bonkers. It's always too soon when you have to
(35:45):
leave that condo go back into the real world. As
he shows you to the door, you take one last
look around the framed report cards, his great grandkids, boxes
of jellybeans, peeking out from under the favorite wooden chair,
that dozens of pictures of Nelly. He's a little more
(36:06):
hunched over than last time, his steps a little smaller.
You hope it's not the last time that you see him.
I was with him a couple of years ago, and
I said to him, Coach, as I'm sitting in his
condominium and there are awards and plaques.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
And.
Speaker 10 (36:23):
I've said, Coach, how would you like to be remembered?
And he immediately answered me, and he said, I'd like
to be remembered as a man who came as close
as possible to being the man that my father was.
Wouldn't you have loved and known his father? What a
man he must have been. Whenever you left his place,
(36:45):
you go down that elevator, walk through the garage. And
I had friends with me several times, and we'd be
walking along after leaving, and they'd have tears in their eyes.
They'd say, one of the greatest days of my life.
After hearing his stories quote those poems talk about Abraham
(37:06):
Lincoln and mother Teresa, I'd say it's not over yet.
We'd go up that driveway and I'd say, oftentimes he
stands over here at the window or on his patio
and he waves to us and he says goodbye. He
says thanks for coming. And we'd look there and there
he was waving, thank you for coming. And I can
see him there saying that to us. Thank you for coming, Coach,
(37:31):
Thank you for allowing us into your life. Our coach,
our teacher, our mentor, our friend. Your father would be
very proud of the man that you were. We'll never
forget you, coach. Thank you for.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Everything, and what beautiful words. And watching grown men that
day hold back tears. John Wooden's story a remarkable story
of love of faith. Here on our American Stories
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories.
During John Wooden's twenty seven years at UCLA, he coached
the Bruins to four undefeated seasons in a record ten
national championships. He was the first person inducted into the
National Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and
as a coach, and the NCAAA and ESPN both named
(00:34):
him the greatest coach of the twentieth century. The story
we are about to hear from Greg Hangler is told
by John Wooden himself, his family, his friends, and his players.
Here's John Wooden.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I grew up at Centert Tom about eight miles north
of Martinsville, and we lived on a farm there. But
I think the person probably had most influenced on me
throughout my mother in particularly my father. He said, there's
always time for play, that's after the chores and the
studies are done. Of course, he read to us every night.
(01:09):
We didn't have electricity or running water or anything on
the farm, and he read poetry and resisted scriptures to
us every night. Just being born in Indiana in those years,
and any young fellow is going to be interest in basketball,
and he's just the natural thing. Dad tacked up an
automato basket, and mother took an old cotton sock and
(01:33):
filled it with a rags, making a round as possibly could.
And that's where I first started. I went to grade
school in Centerton. My father, I think as a man
for whom the word gentleman was coined, because he truly
was a gentleman, something that he gave me. When I
graduated from a small country grade school at Centerton, there
(01:56):
was a little card that had a creed of seven points.
The first one was be true to yourself. The next
point was make each day your masterpiece. The third one
was help others. The fourth one was make friendship of
fine art. Another one was build a shelter against a
(02:20):
rainy day. Another one was drink deeply from good books,
most important the good book. And then the last point
in this creed was every day and every evening, pray
for guidance and give thanks for your blessings. My first
(02:42):
year in high school commuted on ian urban that ran
from Indianapolis to Martinsville. And then we lost the farm
after my freshman year and we moved into Martinsville. I
met the young lady, the only girl whom I ever went.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
With here's John's daughter, Nancy.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
My dad was very, very shy, worked on the farm.
My mother was a city girl from Martinsville. She came
out with some friends that had a car and he
was working in the field and he wouldn't come over
to the car. They kept motioning over and he was plowing,
and he said he was dirty and sweaty and his overall.
(03:24):
And then when school started again, my mother made a
bee line for him and said, you know, why didn't
you come over? And he said, I wasn't cleaned up,
and I was ashamed. And she said, you know, John Bob,
that's what she called him until they were in their thirties.
I would never be ashamed of you. And he knew
(03:47):
right then that that.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Was for him.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
In nineteen twenty four, Martinsville built Indiana's largest high school, gymnasium.
It sat five thousand, two hundred and twenty eight, four
hundred and twenty eight more more than the population of
the town. During basketball season, coach Glenn Curtis established a
policy of no dating and home by eight pm for
(04:10):
his players. Nelly countered by joining the pep band before
every game. John winked at Nelly seated with her bandmates.
She gave him an OK sign and he waved back
at her. It was the beginning of a pregame ritual
that would last for half a century. While playing for
legendary coach Ward Piggy Lambert at Purdue, John was a
(04:34):
three time All American and won a national championship. After
his senior season, John played a few professional basketball games
for the Chicago Bruins, and this was twenty five years
before the NBA, but was hesitant about their lucrative offers
to play full time. He sought advice from his coach
at Purdue.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
When I graduated from Purdue, for a lot of money
in those days, a lot of money to play semipro
basketball with a traveling team and just be traveling around
all over playing games. And there's a lot of money.
And I talked to mister Lambert, my coach, Piggy Dambert
(05:16):
was a man of his high principles. There's anyone I've
ever known, very very high principles told me about this.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
He says, that's a lot of money, and yes, yes,
he said, you're going to take it. Oh, I said,
what do you mean? He said, what did you come
to do for I said, to get an education. Did
you get it? And I said, well, I hope so well.
He said, I wouldn't throw it away if I were you,
But you's something you have to do yourself. But remember this,
(05:44):
you can't play in dirt and not get dirty.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Two days before John and Nelly's wedding, a bank failure
claimed John's life savings of nine hundred and nine dollars
and twenty five cents. Here's John and daughter Nancy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Nellie and I were married in Indianapolis on August eighth,
nineteen thirty two, and my brother and his girlfriend, who
had a car, drove us up and then they.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Lived another was very outgoing. My dad was very, very shy,
and she encouraged him in high school to take a
public speaking course because he just kind of always set
his head down. And I think she was very instrumental
in getting him to become less shy with people. They
(06:30):
were totally opposite, so I think that's always a big attraction.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but in this case
it worked beautifully.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
A few weeks after their wedding, Nellie and John moved
to Dayton, Kentucky, where he had taken a job as
a high school English teacher, athletic director, and head coach
of three sports, including football, which he had never played.
When one Surly player challenged Coach Wooden's authority, a brief
physical altercation followed. John was immediately ashamed. John rehired the
(07:05):
former football coach and turned all of his attention to basketball.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
And what a story we're hearing John Wooden's story when
we come back more of this remarkable life story, the
story of John Wooden here on our American Stories. Folks,
(07:29):
if you love the great American stories we tell and
love America like we do, we're asking you to become
a part of the our American Stories family. If you
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Go to our American Stories dot com now and go
(07:50):
to the donate button and help us keep the great
American stories coming. That's our American Stories dot Com. And
we continue with our American Stories and the life story
(08:12):
of John Wooden. Let's return to Greg Hangler with more.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Nancy Ann Wooden arrived in March of nineteen thirty four.
But after two years in Dayton, John Nellie and Nancy
moved to a new opportunity in South Bend, Indiana.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I don't think South Bend knew wonder I'd be a
good English teacher or not. They hoped for my background
that I could maybe be a pretty good basketball, baseball coach.
I wanted to be the best English teacher. I ran
across a couple of things that made them impression on me.
No written word, no oral plea. And teach our youth
(08:50):
what they should be, Nor all the books on all
the shelves. It's what the teachers are themselves that made
impression on me.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
John's school year was filled with teaching, coaching, and play
professional games on the weekends. But when America entered World
War Two in nineteen forty one, everything changed. Here's John
and Nancy.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I enlisted, and probably they probably the major disagreement that
my their wife and I had in all our years,
said she didn't think I should do.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
She was upset because Daddy enlisted without and they always
talked everything over. But in this particular thing, at this
particular time, he just wanted to do that. He said,
so his son would never have to, and I can
remember being very frightened.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
In the aftermath of World War Two, many young men
went to college. John went back to his job in
South Bend, but then his former high school coach, Glenn Curtis,
recommended him for the head coaching position at Indiana State.
After eleven years as a high school basketball coach, John
and Nelly moved to Tara Hate in the summer of
nineteen forty six. When I wouldn't held tryouts in October,
(10:02):
the gymnasium overflowed with candidates. The team's record during the
first season earned them an invitation to THENIB tournament in
Kansas City. That is, as long as they didn't bring
Clarence Walker, the only black man on the team. Coach
Wooden said his team would not play. Here's Kevin Walker
(10:23):
and Indiana State players.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
My father's name was Clarence Jordan Walker, and his connection
with John Wooden was he was a basketball player at
Indiana State. Through the years of growing up, my father
really never talked much about his days in college. However,
it's his one day I was a senior in high
(10:45):
school and we lost our regional championship basketball game. I
was a little distraught about it, of course, and my
father came up to me, say, I got something I
want you to see. And it was more of a
diary that he he kept on himself and the Indiana
State basketball team.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And everything that they went through.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Everywhere that they had to go, where he could play,
where he couldn't play, even to the point of the
places that he could not even go. And I started
asking him questions about it. He would just say, you know,
this is how it was back then. Every day was
a different day, and every day has its own trouble. Well,
(11:27):
John Wooden, from me reading that portion of the diary
told me about his character and his Christian discipleship. Actually,
where he would if we don't take the whole, we're
not going at all. And what I mean by the
whole his team that was like his family, and not
(11:49):
one was greater than the other.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
When you became associated with coach wood and while you
were gonna be one of his family, he's.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
One of my boys, he would say, no, we're not coming.
We didn't see color, none of it. Wouldn't steam serve
us all color.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
We would stop at a restaurant along the way and
somebody would refuse to allow him to eat with us.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And the manager says, we don't feed people like this,
so we all decided to leave. That's what we did.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
I think the only thing that really kept his mind
straight was his family and his faith in God. He
was god fearing man, taught us and still christianed the
discipleship and stewardship within us.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
As a family.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Probably the most significant was just his desire to show
all men are created equal.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
The next year, the league changed the policy and Clarence
Walker traveled with the team to Kansas City. There, he
became the first black man to play in a postseason
national collegiate basketball tournament. Wherever John went, his wife was
always beside him. Here's a couple of Indiana State players
and John's daughter, Nancy.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
She was a pretty lady, feisty.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
I think she was a feisty little Irish girl.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Feisty.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
That's a good word for her.
Speaker 6 (13:25):
Coach wouldn't have said that Nelle was the most important
thing in his life, and he feels that he would
not have been anything without Nelly.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And asked many times about my family and growing up.
And I continue to think and feel and say that
I wish everyone would be as fortunate as I was
to grow up in a family where my mother and
dad loved each other and loved my brother genleally.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
For many years, John Wooden had been contemplating the nature
of success.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I wanted to come up with a different definition of
success than mister Website. I wanted to be more than
just the material possessions are prestige. And my dad, I remembered,
he tried to teachings that never ceased, trying to do
the best. You can do it, whatever it is, and
it's more or less forgotten that probably it went in
(14:24):
one ear and out the other in the time. And
then I read a short verse that said, at God's
footstool to confess a poor soul, melt and bound his head.
I failed, he cried. The Master said, now it's my best.
That is success. From those I coined my own definition
of success in nine hundred and thirty four. I choose
(14:47):
to define it as peace of mind attained only through
self satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do
the best of which you're capable, and you're the only
one that knows that you know. Nobody else knows fool others,
but you can't fool yourself inside character and reputation. Your character,
you're the old one. There's your character. Your reputation is
(15:08):
what you're perceived to be by others, but your character
is what you really are.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Coach Wouldn't developed a teaching tool called the Pyramid of Success.
It was not just for his players, but a goal
for him to pursue as well. Coach Wooden's record at
Indiana State caught the attention of several large universities, including
the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and the UCLA Bruins.
(15:34):
John and Nelly's first choice was Minnesota, and he was
ready to accept their promised offer, but their phone call
was delayed by a snowstorm in Minneapolis. Here's John's colleague
and friend, Tom Osborne.
Speaker 9 (15:49):
Somehow, because of communication issue, their offer got to him late,
and he'd already told the people at UCLA he would go.
Probably he would have preferred to go to Minnesota because
in the Midwest. And Buddy said, well, once he had
given his word, that was it. So he went to UCLA.
(16:10):
And you wonder in today's culture how many coaches would
do that.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
At UCLA football was king. The basketball team had a
losing record. They shared the space with the gymnastics team,
and its seating was half the capacity of John Wooden's
high school. But John Wooden focused on his opportunity. He
told the Los Angeles Daily News, no team is going
to outrun or out hustle the Bruins this season. Slated
(16:41):
to finish last, UCLA captured the division championship in nineteen
forty nine. Here's UCLA players Keith Erickson, Marcus Johnson, Doug McIntosh,
and daughter Nancy.
Speaker 10 (16:54):
Even though I grew up in a little city called
El Segundo, not too far from here, my horizons weren't
real broad, so I had never even seen UCLA play.
I had never heard about Coach, wouldn't He was just
another coach when I got here, a nice, nice little
guy and ran a pretty tight ship, and I was
(17:14):
happy to be here.
Speaker 11 (17:15):
He really taught us the basics in every facet of
the game, and started with putting on your socks. And
it's funny because I have a twelve year old that
I just had to reinstruct for the twentieth time on
how to tie his shoe. You know, his shoes always
come loose during the game. Dude, tie your shoes up,
so you started just tying them a half hats and
I said, no, no, no, you got to start at
the bottom, pull each shoe string up two at a time, tight, tight, tight,
(17:39):
all the way to the top. And I thought about that.
I didn't say it to him, but that's the way
Coach wouldn't taught us.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
What a coach?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
What a story? When we continue more of John Wooden's
life story here on our American stories, and we returned
(18:09):
to our American stories in Coach wooden story, here is
player Keith Ericksson, and he won two national championships playing
for Coach wood in nineteen sixty four. In nineteen sixty five.
Speaker 10 (18:23):
Coach Woulden did all of his work during the week.
His canvas was teaching us during the week, and he
loved that time of practice.
Speaker 12 (18:32):
He was a guy who always felt, I think that
we were inclined to coddle ourselves and make it easy
on ourselves, and so he wanted to push us to excellence.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
He prepared two hours every morning for two and a
half hours for our two and a half hour practice.
Every afternoon.
Speaker 11 (18:52):
We did things like imaginary shooting fields where you'd have
an imaginary basketball and you'd shoot the ball, this imaginary ball.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
And work on your work when you're followed.
Speaker 11 (19:01):
Through and your rotation, and you had to see the
ball kind of going through the hoop. So wist would blow.
We'd shoot this would blow. We'd shoot this imaginary ball.
And Coach was you know, he was into it like
it was a real ball.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
You know.
Speaker 11 (19:12):
Make sure you hold it here and make sure you
get to rotate. You got a good put your finger
bright on the whole year and go through the whole thing.
But you know, in my mind, I want to say, coach,
but there's no ball.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I don't know what the there's no ball.
Speaker 12 (19:21):
His concern was always to get the maximum out of
what we had to work with. You can't you can't
put in what God left out, but you can you
can seek to at least some maximize what God put in.
Speaker 10 (19:33):
And then when we got to the games, we would
meet beforehand he would tell us, you know, just to
do our best play together, and then he would sit
down on the bench and we would play.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Usually he had his program pulled it up in one hand,
and I had his cross in his other hand. That
and I only found this out in later years, but
our minister from the First Christian Church and South Bend
gave it to Daddy when he went into the service,
and it was very unusual. It had the alpha and
(20:03):
the omega on it, and he had his little ritual
before the games, of course, you know, kind of pull
up his socks and pat his assistant and then turn
around and look at my mother end she giving the
high sign. From then on it was up to his team.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
In nineteen sixty three, John Wooden made some changes that
brought dramatic results. Here again is Keith Erickson and Doug McIntosh.
Speaker 12 (20:29):
In sixty four, we were not considered to be a
serious threat even to win the conference. We were playing Duke,
which was a considerably larger team physically than we were,
and we were underdogs in the finals. After twenty nine
straight wins, we were still underdogs, but we played a
game that the same kind of game we played all year.
Speaker 10 (20:51):
We wore them out in the middle of the game.
We had to run, and that's what won our ball
games for us. Coach wouldn't always told us never get
too high, never get too low, and after the championship
he was right there. The fact that we won the
whole thing was you know, that was a goal of
his and he was very happy to have that goal.
(21:12):
But he was excited that we had done as well
as we could. That's what he always preached and taught,
you know, to be a team, to play together, and
to be the best that you could be.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
The next year, UCLA repeated as national champions, setting forth
what would become the greatest dynasty in college sports. Wooden
became known as the Wizard of Westwood, Yet the only
magic he ever relied on was his faith and common sense.
During the following decade, the Bruins dominated college basketball. Here's
(21:44):
coach Wooden and UCLA great Bill Walton telling the haircut story.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Bill Walton was an unusual person in so many ways.
He wasn't a rebel, as some people have called him. However,
he was just one of those in the sixties of
the anti establishment as far as basketball, and you couldn't
have a finer person on your team than Bill Walton.
(22:13):
But between practices I had concerns.
Speaker 13 (22:16):
I thought I was free, free, free at last when
I left home to go to UCLA. And here we
were in the age of Nixon and Vietnam and Watergate,
rock and roll exploding on the scene, and I thought
I was just going to be up there totally on
my own, having the time in my life. But then
there was Coach Wooden standing right there on the steps saying,
come right on in here, young man.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Your mine for the next four years. He knew that
I had certain rules and as such as and I
didn't prem an extra long hair and beards. We had
one period between games of about ten days and he
didn't shave, and it didn't look like that. He said
to me after, Coach, can I talk to you? And
(22:58):
I said, sernay, I said you can talk before a
Ducade that was our trainer and Cissington. He said, well,
I just wasn't going to shave. Oh, I said, yes,
I'd heard that Bill had been You'd bended that around
and it got around that you weren't going to shave.
And do you believe in this strong go? Yes, yes,
I believe in it very strongly. And I said, I
have great respect and admiration for people who stand up
(23:21):
for the things that in which they believe. I do, Bill,
and we're going to miss you. And he stood there
for a minute and said I'll shave.
Speaker 13 (23:33):
I fought with Coach wouldn't over these incredibly meaningless things.
At the time, I thought they were the most important
things in the world. I've got a saying on my
desk from Coach wouldn't at home. It's the things we
learn after we know it all that really count in
our lives. Those lessons in life are truly the greatest ones.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I believe one of the greatest motivating things we have
is the pat on the back. I think we all
like that. I know that sometimes the path has to
be a little lower and a little harder, but I
still believe that the paddle back. Everybody likes praise. If
I ask you here, if raise your hand, if you
like praise, if every hand didn't go up, I think
(24:14):
there's some liars in here, because I think everyone likes
praise and think that. I think most people like to
live up to expectations. They like to live up to
the expectations. Not all of them have the poise to
do that, but I think everyone really like. You'd like
to please people. You don't like to displease people in anything,
(24:37):
and I think most people are that way. And I
think the greatest motivating factor, don't get him do that
is the pat on the back, not necessary physically, just
a word, maybe a smile, maybe a nod, And I
think that's the greatest motivating factor we have.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
In December nineteen seventy two, coach Wouldn't suffered a mild
heart attack. At the end of that season, UCLA won
at seventh consecutive national title, no team had ever won
more than four, and was writing a seventy five game
winning streak. In January nineteen seventy four, a one point
loss ended UCLA's eighty eight game winning streak. At the
(25:15):
NCAA Semifinals, North Carolina State defeated the Bruins eighty to
seventy seven in double overtime. John Wooden struggled as never
before with the pressure of success.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
If you're in this type of profession, when you're in
the public eye, you're going to have ups and downs.
You're going to have praise, You're going to have criticism.
Some that's going to be deserved and some of the
some of it isn't. But your strength, now, I don't
care whether you're a teacher, a surgeon, or whatever you are.
Your strength depends on how you react to both praise
(25:50):
and criticism. You can't either one affect you. I first
heard this at an FCA conference and s Park, Colorado,
in the early years of the FCA. This crowd on earth,
they soon forget the heroes of the past. They cheer
(26:11):
like mad until you fall, and that's how long you last.
But God he never does forget. And in his Hall
of fame, by just believing in his son inscribed you'll
find your name. I tell you, friends, I would not
trade my name, however small, inscribed up there beyond the stars,
(26:36):
in that celestial hall, for any famous name on earth
or glory that they share. I'd rather be an unknown
here and have my name up there, wouldn't we all.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
And you've been listening to John, wouldn't hearing that story
about Bill Walton and so much today you hear in
current events and in the news about the kids being
the leaders of the teams and the coaches doing whatever
the kids say, and we all know that doesn't make sense.
When we come back more of this remarkable life story,
(27:14):
this remarkable man, John Wooden's story continues here on our
American stories. And we continue with our American stories and
(27:39):
John Wooden's story. Let's return to Greg Hangler with more.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
After almost forty years of coaching. Retirement was on the
horizon for John Wooden, but nobody knew for sure when,
not even coach Wooden, until one Saturday night in nineteen
seventy five, after defeating Louisville in overtime at the NCAA
Semi Finals in San Diego. When the game ended, instead
(28:05):
of going to meet the press as he usually did,
John Wooden made his way to the UCLA locker room.
Here's Marcus Johnson.
Speaker 11 (28:15):
Coach Wooden comes in and just kind of tells us to,
you know, pipe down, you know, get quiet, quiet, quiet.
I got something to say to you guys. And so
he came in and talked about how he was happy
with the job that we had done, and we had
played a great game, and that he had been thinking
about this a long time and had come to the
conclusion that the next game, that Monday night, the championship game,
(28:38):
would be his last game, and that he was going
to retire and get out of coaching. You know, everybody
felt like they had been kind of punched.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
In the chest.
Speaker 11 (28:48):
He told us that and walked out. And Andre McCarter,
who was the captain of that team, was kind of
our spiritual compass in terms of how he looked at things,
and he pulled us all together. It's like, guys, look,
you know, there's no way that we're going to let
coach wouldn't not go out a national champion. You know,
there's just no way that's going to happen. And we
all kind of looked at each other and said, yeah, yeah,
(29:09):
you're right, there's no way we don't let that happen.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
UCLA be Kentucky ninety two to eighty five. In retirement,
coach wouldn't Speaking. Engagements in basketball camps for young players
kept him busy, and of course his theme at these
events was always the pyramid of success, his teaching tool
of universal truths to help people reach their full potential.
(29:34):
Here's Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and the coach.
Speaker 13 (29:39):
He made basketball fund. I mean he made basketball fund,
he made life fund.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It was never a drag.
Speaker 8 (29:44):
Coach Wooden was cool because he got us up to
a very sharp edge. But he never was like I
think a guy running a dog sled team. You know,
he never had to do that. You know, he's very calm.
His leadership was very calm, and we were very focus
and we'd go out there and tear people apart, but
it wasn't a whole lot of wild passion to it.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Passion. Passion is temporary, it doesn't last long. Love is enduring,
and that's the important thing. If we all had love
in our lives the degree that we should have, oh,
it would be much happier. I like a little poem
that says, a bell isn't a bell until you ring it.
(30:30):
A song isn't a song until you sing it. And
the love that does in us wasn't put there to stay.
Love isn't love til you give it away. That's the
important thing. Most important word in our.
Speaker 8 (30:42):
Dictionary things would in the order of nell as kids
and in basketball, and he was maybe fifth. We're talking
about a very selfless man. We always knew how important
his family was to him, his uh son and daughter
and their it's a lot of love and support, and
it was obvious to us that family unit really supported him,
(31:06):
and that was all the approval he really needed.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Nellie passed at age seventy three on March twenty first,
nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
I was very first, very very Forstan Nellie. It was
my high school Streeter's the only girl I ever did,
and we had fifty three wonderful years together before I
lost her. But she was so cooperative in every way,
and I think we need help to help you do
(31:37):
what your cap blue doing. She was. She was great.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
For the next two decades. On the twenty first day
of every month, John wrote a love letter to Nelly.
Every year brought new honors and awards to Coach Wooden.
He received each one graciously while keeping him mine a favorite, saying,
talent is God given, be humble, fame is man given.
(32:07):
Be thankful, conceit is self given. Be careful.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Today is the only important day of your life. Yes,
it is gone, It'll never change. Tomorrow can only be
affected by what you do in preparation today, and failure
to prepare is preparing to fail. My favorite poet is me.
(32:34):
I'm a rhymer. I'll give you one that I wrote
recently if you'd like to hear it. The years have
left their imprint on my hands and on my face. Erect.
No longer is my walk and slower is my pace,
But there is no fear within my heart. Because I'm
growing old. I only wish I had more time to
(32:55):
better serve my Lord when I've gone to him in prayer,
he has brought me inner peace, and soon my cares
and worries and other problems. See, She's helped me in
so many ways. He's never let me down. Why should
I fear the future when soon I could be near
his crown. Though I know down here my time is short,
there is endless time up there, and he will forgive
(33:18):
and keep me ever in his loving care. I'm a rhymer.
That's a rhyme, not talk.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
John Wooden met his maker on June fourth, twenty ten.
He was ninety nine years old. Let's finish the story
with Keith Erickson speaking at John Wooden's memorial service on
UCLA's campus.
Speaker 10 (33:42):
Here's what I remember about Coach Wooden. Kind of a
man he was. He was honest, he was wise, he
was humble, he was fun, he was kind, he was gentle.
He was a man of faith. He was a man
of the Bible. And I repeat to you what he
(34:03):
told me that Jesus was the lord of his life.
On the twenty first of the month, the best man
I know will do what he always does on the
twenty first of the month. He'll sit down and pin
a love letter to his only girl. He'll say how
much he misses her and loves her and can't wait
to see her again. Then he'll fold at once, slide
(34:26):
it a little envelope, and walk into his bedroom. He'll
go to the stack of love letters sitting there on
her pillow, Untie the yellow ribbon, place the new one
on top, Tie the ribbon again. There's never never been
another coach like coach. Woudn't quiet as in April snow square,
as a game of checkers, loyal to one woman, one school,
(34:49):
one way, walking around campus in his sensible shoes and
Jimmy Stewart morals, discipline yourself and others.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Won't need to coach with.
Speaker 10 (35:00):
Say never lie, never cheat, never steal, and earn the
right to be proud and confident. If you played for him,
you played by his rules. Never score without acknowledging a teammate.
One word of profanity and you're done for the day.
Treat your opponents with respect. He believed in a hopelessly
out of date stuff that never did anything but win championships.
(35:24):
No dribbling behind the back or through the legs. There's
no need, he'd say, no long hair and no facial hair.
They take too long to dry, and you can catch
cold leaving the gym. He'd say that one drove his
players bonkers. It's always too soon when you have to
(35:45):
leave that condo go back into the real world. As
he shows you to the door, you take one last
look around the framed report cards, his great grandkids, boxes
of jellybeans, peeking out from under the favorite wooden chair,
that dozens of pictures of Nelly. He's a little more
(36:06):
hunched over than last time, his steps a little smaller.
You hope it's not the last time that you see him.
I was with him a couple of years ago, and
I said to him, Coach, as I'm sitting in his
condominium and there are awards and plaques.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
And.
Speaker 10 (36:23):
I've said, Coach, how would you like to be remembered?
And he immediately answered me, and he said, I'd like
to be remembered as a man who came as close
as possible to being the man that my father was.
Wouldn't you have loved and known his father? What a
man he must have been. Whenever you left his place,
(36:45):
you go down that elevator, walk through the garage. And
I had friends with me several times, and we'd be
walking along after leaving, and they'd have tears in their eyes.
They'd say, one of the greatest days of my life.
After hearing his stories quote those poems talk about Abraham
(37:06):
Lincoln and mother Teresa, I'd say it's not over yet.
We'd go up that driveway and I'd say, oftentimes he
stands over here at the window or on his patio
and he waves to us and he says goodbye. He
says thanks for coming. And we'd look there and there
he was waving, thank you for coming. And I can
see him there saying that to us. Thank you for coming, Coach,
(37:31):
Thank you for allowing us into your life. Our coach,
our teacher, our mentor, our friend. Your father would be
very proud of the man that you were. We'll never
forget you, coach. Thank you for.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Everything, and what beautiful words. And watching grown men that
day hold back tears. John Wooden's story a remarkable story
of love of faith. Here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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