John Wooden Bio

John Robert Wooden was born October 14, 1910 and died last June 4, 2010.

He is one of the most recognizable names in the world of college basketball. He was a former American basketball coach and player.

He was called the Wizard of Westwood, and gave the UCLA Bruins the ten NCAA championships in a 12 year span, having seven in a row from 1967 to 1973 as the head coach of the basketball program. He was also named as the National coach of the year six times.

When John Wooden was still playing, he was the first to have the the award of basketball All-American three times. He also won a national title in Purdue. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1961 as a player and inducted on 1973 as a coach. Wooden was the first ever to be awarded in the Hall of Fame for both categories and since, only other two had those honors, they are Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman.

One of the most respected and revered basketball coaches of all time and adored by his former players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton.He was famous for his short and inspirational quotes and messages for his players to motivate them.

His coaching career started when he coach a highschool basketball team in Kentucky named the Dayton High School for two years. The first year with the Dayton High School was his only known losing record with 6-11 win-loss record as a coach.

He came back to Indiana and taught English and coached the South Bend Central High School basketball team up until he joined the Armed Forces. His highschool coaching record was 218-42 that lasted for 11 years.

Wooden coached the Indiana State Teacher’s College, the now Indiana State University, from 1946 to 1948, just after the World War II. They won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and was invited to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball or NAIB National Tournament in Kansas City. Because of NAIB’s banning of African American players, Wooden refused the invitation.

Wooden coached the UCLA after the 1947-48 season. Before he coached the Bruins , they had a record of 12-13, when he coached them it improved into a 22-7 record and become a PCC Southern Division Champion. From 1948 to 1975, he coached the UCLA Bruins and in that span, he brought them the 10 national college titles.

He was admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on May 26, 2010 because of dehydration and died the following week. He died of natural causes at the age of 99 on June 4,2010.

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