John Wooden

1910–2010 · 100 years Tier II

The tenant farmer's son who coached ten titles for under $35,000

Portrait of John Wooden — Associated Students of the University of California at Los Angeles — circa 1972 — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Wooden was born October 14, 1910, near Hall, Indiana, one of six children of tenant farmers Joshua and Roxie Wooden, and grew up without electricity or plumbing on land the family did not own. A sister died of diphtheria at two. When he graduated from grammar school his father handed him a card with a seven-point creed on it, be true to yourself, help others, and Wooden carried some version of it for life. The family lost the farm and moved to Martinsville when he was fourteen. He led Martinsville High School to a state title, then went to Purdue, where he became the first three-time basketball All-American in college history and picked up the nickname the Indiana Rubber Man for his diving after loose balls.

He coached high school for eleven years, played professionally on the side, and once made 134 consecutive free throws in a stretch that stood as a pro record. At Indiana State in 1947 he turned down a postseason bid rather than leave his one Black player, Clarence Walker, off the roster to satisfy the tournament's ban. UCLA hired him in 1948 for less money than other schools offered. He built the sport's only true dynasty there: ten national championships in twelve seasons, seven of them in a row, an 88-game winning streak, four undefeated seasons, and a career record of 620 and 147, all on a coaching salary that never topped 35,000 dollars a year even as the titles piled up.

The dynasty had a booster behind it named Sam Gilbert, a wealthy contractor who, over Wooden's years at UCLA, supplied players and their families with cars, clothes, apartments, and cash, favors an NCAA investigation eventually traced back through the program. Wooden knew Gilbert was close to his players. What he did with that knowledge is the open question of his record: he later said only that there was "as much crookedness as you want to find" around any program and that he had perhaps trusted too much. The NCAA put UCLA on two years' probation in 1981, after he had already retired, and ordered the school to cut ties with the man who had helped make the run possible.

He and his wife Nell, married since he was 21, were still together when she died of cancer in March 1985 at 73. UCLA later put her name first on the dedication of the court that carries both of theirs. Wooden lived another 25 years, giving lectures on his Pyramid of Success and turning down money he could easily have taken. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003 and remains the only person in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach. He died June 4, 2010, in Los Angeles, at 99, and the U.S. Postal Service put him on a stamp in 2024.

Lifespan

15401700180019002030

John Wooden's life against the full span of the corpus.

Notable works

Practical Modern Basketball book 1966
They Call Me Coach book 1972
UCLA Bruins, 1948-1975 other
Ten NCAA championships, seven of them consecutive 1975
Pyramid of Success other
A framework of coaching maxims taught well beyond basketball 1948

Life in brief

with age at each point

October 14, 1910 aged 0 Born near Hall, Indiana
1931 aged ~21 Marries Nell Riley
1932 aged ~22 Graduates from Purdue as the first three-time basketball All-American
1947 aged ~37 Turns down a postseason bid at Indiana State rather than bench his one Black player
1948 aged ~38 Hired as head coach at UCLA
1964 aged ~54 Wins his first NCAA championship
1975 aged ~65 Wins his 10th NCAA title in 12 seasons and retires
March 21, 1985 aged 74 Nell Wooden dies of cancer
June 4, 2010 aged 99 Dies in Los Angeles at 99