John Wooden: An American Beauty (1910-2010)

MaxPreps pays tribute to the American icon with a chapter from high school Hall of Fame writer and fellow Hooiser Dave Krider, who retraces Wooden's rich and wonderful life.

By Dave Krider

Jun 5, 2010, 12:01am

Editor’s note: John Wooden’s influence on American sport – American life – can not be over-stated. An icon, a jewel, an American treasure are all spot-on descriptions associated with the man long before his passing Saturday at age 99 - four months shy of reaching triple digits. His reach and influence on young people is beyond scope, so we at MaxPreps.com pay tribute to the man with an entire chapter devoted to him by a fellow Hoosier, friend and lover of high school sports Dave Krider in his 2007 book “Indiana High School Basketball’s 20 Most Dominant Players.” Krider, the first of just four writers in the NFHS Hall of Fame, served with Wooden on the McDonald’s All-American basketball selection committee. (See more tributes to Wooden at bottom of story.)

John Wooden: Indiana’s Greatest Legend.

There are legends. Then there is John Wooden, who – if anyone – deserves to be listed at the very top of the numerous greats whose lives were shaped by Indiana high school basketball. He had superb careers at Martinsville High School and Purdue University before becoming the most successful coach in college history at UCLA.

John Wooden

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At the prep level, he led Martinsville to one state championship (1927) and a pair of runnerup finishes while being named All-State each year. At Purdue he was a three-time All-American and was named National Player of the Year while sparking the Boilermakers to a mythical national team title as a senior in 1932. All he did at UCLA was post a 620-147 record from 1948-75 with an incredible four undefeated seasons and 10 national championships – seven in a row from 1966-73. Six times he was chosen National Coach of the Year.

When Wooden was named to the Helms Athletic Foundation all-time team in 1943, he was called “probably the greatest all-around guard of them all. Brilliant on defense and an exceptional shot.”

He was the first person enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame as both a player (1961) and coach (1973). He was a charter member (1962) of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame where visitors may listen to his specially-taped inspirational three-minute, locker-room talk. There are numerous national awards given each year in his name. He has written two books and co-authored several others. A gym and street are named after him in his hometown. In southern California, where he has lived since 1948, a high school, post office and street carry his name.

“I kind of agree with (television broadcaster) Dick Enberg,” said Morgan Wootten, a fellow Naismith Hall of Fame member who has worked with Wooden for many years on behalf of the McDonald’s All-American high school basketball game. “He always says that he knows God doesn’t make any perfect people, but He came awfully close in this case. He is a fantastic person. When you’ve been around him, you feel like you have been to the mountain. I’ve never met a more impressive person.”

Born Oct. 14, 1910, Wooden grew up on a farm outside of Martinsville. His first basketball was a combination of old socks and rags, sewed together by his mother, Roxie Anna. His father, Joshua, nailed a tomato basket to the hayloft, but he was unable to dribble the ball, of course. When his parents could afford it, they later bought him a rubber ball.

One of his first playmates was Branch McCracken, who lived on a nearby farm. McCracken, who later starred at Monrovia High School and Indiana University, is best known for coaching Indiana University to a pair of NCAA basketball titles. Both came before Wooden captured his initial championship at UCLA.

As he attended elementary and junior high, Wooden became captivated by Hoosier Hysteria. After all, Martinsville High School had a huge basketball palace which seated 5,200 people – about 400 more than lived in the town. It was believed to be the largest of its kind in the world at that time. Still, the gym was packed for every game and tickets were pure gold. Interest in basketball was so intense that home room teachers were responsible for figuring out a way to purchase season tickets for students who had no money.

Wooden once told Indianapolis Star sportswriter Bob Williams, “In those days you couldn’t grow up in Indiana and not have a basketball touch you in some way.”

Sweethearts for 60 years
As a freshman, Wooden also was greatly touched by a Martinsville girl – one year younger than him - named Nellie Riley. “I thought that she was very cute and attractive,” he said. “That summer I was working on our farm and a car drove up. She got out and motioned for me to come over, but I wouldn’t do it.” So Nellie and her two friends had just wasted a 16-mile round trip!

Starting his sophomore year that fall, Wooden was confronted in the hallway by Nellie Riley and her best friend, Mary Schnaiter. “Why didn’t you come over?” she asked. “I was perspiring and dirty – you’d have made fun of me,” the ultra-shy Wooden replied.

They, of course, were destined to begin dating. She played cornet in the band and throughout their high school days they would acknowledge each other before every game. This was a ritual they repeated during a marriage that would last 53 years. Their daughter, Nancy, described it like this: “He rubbed his feet on the floor, turned around and winked at her. My mother then made a circle with her thumb and forefinger. They were sweethearts for 60 years.”

Perhaps spurred by his relationship with Nellie – the only girl he ever dated and the love of his life – Wooden helped the Artesians reach the 1926 state championship game where they suffered a 30-23 loss to Marion and its 6-7 giant, Charles (Stretch) Murphy. The state tournament schedule in that era dictated that an eventual champion play four games in barely more than 24 hours, with three being held on the final day.

That year also was memorable because it was the initial time that Wooden faced his boyhood idol, Fuzzy Vandivier, who was a first-year coach at his alma mater, Franklin High. After watching Wooden, Vandivier was quoted as saying, “He was so good he almost made me wish I’d never gone into coaching.”

As a junior, Wooden took the Artesians one step further as they defeated Muncie Central, 26-23, to win their second state championship (the first had been in 1924). The 5-10, 175-pound guard was high scorer with 10 points. Interest for the final state-tourney game to be played at the Indianapolis Cowbarn had been so high that scalpers were getting an unheard-of $2.50 for a ticket.

Wooden’s senior year, 1928, was the first time the finals were played at Butler Fieldhouse and a crowd of nearly 15,000 showed up. Unfortunately he suffered his greatest disappointment as a player because Martinsville dropped a 13-12 heartbreaker to Muncie Central in the state-title game on a spectacular shot by 6-5 Charlie Secrist. Martinsville was leading 12-11 and holding the ball when the Bearcats called an over-the-limit timeout and were assessed a technical foul. Wooden, the team captain, shot the free throw, but missed after going 3-for-3 up to that point.

On the following center jump, Secrist tipped the ball to himself, but found no one he could pass to due to the Artesians’ air-tight defense. So, shooting the style of the day – two hands, underhanded - he launched what Wooden called the highest-arched shot he ever saw from beyond half-court. It appeared to reach the gym rafters and then “went through clean as a whistle,” Wooden lamented. “We still had a last shot but it spun out.”

Secrist revealed after the game that he was hoping to get the rebound and put it back in when the ball swished perfectly through the net.

Wooden climaxed his final campaign by being named All-State for the third consecutive year.

The Human Floorburn
In the spring of 1928 Wooden entertained thoughts of attending West Point or the Naval Academy, but that would have been a total commitment for the next six years. Nellie threatened to join a convent. “She wouldn’t have done that,” he insisted. However, he did elect instead to attend nearby Purdue in the fall and was extremely happy to have old Marion tormentor Stretch Murphy on his side this time. Having played his high school ball for a legendary coach, Glenn Curtis, he was fortunate to hook up with another legendary coach, Ward (Piggy) Lambert, at Purdue.

Wooden became an immediate favorite of the Purdue fans because he played the game with reckless abandon. Diving for loose balls and going all-out on every play, he picked up nicknames such as the “Human Floorburn” and the “Indiana Rubber Man.” Wooden said the monikers were accurate “because of my aggressiveness. I went down on the floor a lot.”

As a youngster, longtime Purdue assistant coach Bob King watched Wooden play during his college years. “The thing I remember the most,” King recalled, “is that he was so fast. He ran into the stands and they threw him (gently) right back on the floor.”

During Wooden’s career, the Boilermakers won Big Ten Conference titles in 1930 and 1932. They were named mythical national champions in 1932 when they posted a near-perfect 17-1 record. He served as captain during his junior and senior years. He was a three-time Helms Athletic Foundation All-American and 1932 Player of the Year as a senior. During his three-year career, the Boilermakers compiled a 42-8 record.

In addition to his outstanding defensive play, he set a school record by averaging 12.2 points as a senior. He also set a Purdue record by twice scoring 21 points in a single game. His 475 career points (9.9 average) were second only to Stretch Murphy and he broke the Big Ten single-season record held by Indiana’s Branch McCracken. He excelled in the classroom, too, winning the coveted Big Ten Medal for proficiency in scholarship and athletics.

Wooden was 96 years old when this book was written and he said emphatically that the Big Ten Medal was his proudest achievement, “because I earned it myself. All my other honors have been because of my players. Grades were always very important to me. I had many Academic All-Americans and most of my players graduated.”

Shortly after graduation from Purdue in 1932, John married Nellie after a seven-year courtship and they celebrated by attending a Mills Brothers concert at the Circle Theater in Indianapolis. He then took a job as an English teacher, athletic director and head coach of football, basketball and baseball at Dayton, Ky., High School. His first year in basketball produced his only losing record (6-11) in what was to be an illustrious 40-year career.

After two years at Dayton, Wooden moved to Central High in South Bend, Ind., where he coached basketball, baseball and served as athletic director. He also worked part-time as an editor for a local book publisher. His most memorable game over nine seasons was against Gary Froebel in the 1941 Hammond regional. Central led the entire game until David Minor drilled a half-court shot at the buzzer for a stunning 37-36 upset victory. He calls it as disappointing of a loss as he ever had in coaching.

Free-throw shooting and color blindness
Occasionally, Wooden would serve as a speaker at athletic banquets. This item appeared in a 1946 edition of the Elkhart Truth: “Elkhart school officials announced today that John Wooden, English teacher and coach at South Bend Central High School, would be the principle speaker at their recognition dinner, although they had hoped to get a prominent person.”

During the first seven years of his high school coaching career, Wooden played what – though mostly on weekends - then was the highest level of professional basketball. Playing for three different teams over 46 games, he scored 453 points for a 9.8 average. He left an indelible mark by sinking an incredible 134 consecutive free throws  while playing for the Indianapolis Kautskys.

“When I made my 100th in a row,” Wooden related, “(team owner) Frank Kautsky stopped the game and gave me a $100 bill. I facetiously said I’d have it for only a moment because my wife would grab it. He paid us after each game and when we’d have a good game he’d put a few extra dollars in our envelope.”

In 1942 Wooden joined the U.S. Navy and emerged four years later as a lieutenant. A ruptured appendix kept him from his first assignment aboard the USS  Franklin. Freddie Stalcup, a friend and football quarterback during his Purdue days, took Wooden’s place and was killed during a kamikaze attack in the Pacific.

Wooden had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at age 17 and had relied heavily on his Christian faith over the years. If the Navy incident wasn’t proof enough that he had a guardian angel, then he must have been convinced following a summer basketball appearance in North Carolina. He was scheduled to fly home on Saturday, but was asked to speak at chapel on Sunday, so he changed his ticket. The Saturday plane he would have been on crashed.

After being discharged from the Navy in 1946, Wooden returned briefly to South Bend Central. His high school coaching record has been listed as 218-42 over 11 years, but he says it is not accurate. He never kept track, but he is sure JV games must have been included with the varsity record.

In 1947 Wooden was named athletic director and head coach of basketball at Indiana State University in Terre Haute where he compiled a two-year record of 44-15. This period was marked by his staunch stand against segregation, because he was raised to be “color blind.” His first team was invited to the NAIA tournament, but he refused to go because of policies against African-Americans. The second year he did accept an invitation since his convictions had forced some of the policies to be changed. Indiana State reserve guard Clarence Walker became the first of his race to play in the NAIA tournament.

Wooden admits he “got some nasty letters,” but he continued to fight against segregation.

The UCLA years: Never look back
After two years at Indiana State, he was primed to take the head job at the University of Minnesota until fate – or was it that guardian angel? - again intervened. He was supposed to get a call at a certain time, but a snowstorm stifled the phone lines and UCLA called in the meantime. Indiana’s Branch McCracken, already a big name, had just turned UCLA down. Believing Minnesota had rejected him, Wooden took the UCLA job.

“I never looked back,” Wooden emphasized. “The second year at UCLA I was offered the Purdue job. It was twice the money and more. I would have loved it, but they reminded me that I had insisted on a three-year contract.”

The Woodens had a daughter, Nancy, and a son, Jimmy. Seven grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren have followed. Most have grown up and live near him in Southern California.

Nancy, who graduated from University High School in Los Angeles, followed her father’s coaching career closely. “Because he was my dad, I had a lot of respect for him,” she said. “I thought it was really great to have a coach for a dad. My brother and I loved to go to the games. He never cussed. He did not bring it home. You could never tell by his demeanor whether he won or lost.”

Money was not plentiful in the Wooden household, so every penny counted. Nancy recalls the day that her father prepared for a picnic at the park by squeezing oranges – one at a time – into a big pitcher to make orangeade. “He knocked over the pitcher,” she said. “Then he mopped up the floor with a towel and squeezed the juice back into the pitcher. He said it was no problem because mom was a meticulous house cleaner. He said it was the best orangeade he ever had.”

Nellie, indeed, was a meticulous house cleaner. Nancy added, “Her whole life was about her husband and children. She also entertained daddy’s players.”

It took John Wooden 15 years at UCLA to capture his first NCAA championship as his undersized Bruins defeated Duke, 98-83, in Kansas City., Mo., in 1964. When asked why it took so long, he quipped, “I’m a slow learner.”

The morning after the championship game, Wooden was waiting on a taxi cab outside of his hotel when a pigeon dropped an unwanted greeting on top of his head. “I think The Lord was giving me a message,” he said with his usual sly wit. With or without the pigeon droppings, the humble coach never was going to get a “big head.”

His first two titles actually came under quite adverse conditions because the Bruins did not even have a true home court. They had to practice in a gym each day surrounded by wrestling and gymnastics teams. Before each practice he had to help the managers sweep the gym floor. During his first 17 years on the West Coast, he had to use eight different “home” courts. Entrance requirements at UCLA also were generally tougher than most other schools in the West Coast Conference.

For his final 10 years, however, Wooden was given a sparkling palace, Pauley Pavilion. “It was such a blessing when we got that,” he said. “Alcindor (Lew Alcindor, now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) never would have come if we hadn’t gotten Pauley. It helped recruiting so much.” He responded by happily carving out an incredible 149-2 record on his new home court.

On Jan. 20, 1968, UCLA and Houston tangled at the Houston Astrodome in the first-ever nationally-televised, regular-season college basketball game. Houston and its star, Elvin Hayes, nipped the Bruins, 71-69, before a monstrous record crowd of 52,693, plus a record TV audience which included 150 stations in 49 states. The 6-8 Hayes dominated with 39 points – including the two deciding free throws – and 15 rebounds.  No. 2 had beaten No. 1 and television had found a new vehicle to showcase.

Wooden admits that he was against the game at first because “I thought they were trying to make a spectacle of it. J.D. Morgan (UCLA athletic director) thought it would be very good.” Afterwards, Wooden agreed with his boss, even though the lights shining on each basket made it difficult for most of the shooters.

As the championships began piling up, the Bruins won an incredible 88 consecutive games, which still stands as the NCAA record. The magnificent streak ended with a 71-70 loss at Notre Dame on a jump shot from the deep right corner by Dwight (Iceman) Clay with 29 seconds remaining. During the post-game press conference, a writer told coach Wooden he thought it was good that the streak ended because it probably hadn’t been healthy for college basketball.

Wooden disagreed whole heartedly and still does today. “I think it was good for basketball,” he affirmed. “Other teams should have tried to build up and knock off the streak. Tiger Woods is good for golf.”

The UCLA coach accepted the defeat graciously because he recalled the Bruins’ previous game at Notre Dame during which they won their 61st in a row (82-63) to break the NCAA record set by the Bill Russell-led University of San Francisco.

His unprecedented success caused writers to begin calling him the “Wizard of Westwood.” Today the humble retired coach admits, “I hated it and didn’t like it at all.”

Pyramids and moderation
John Wooden was, above all, a superb teacher, whether working with English students in high school or using the basketball court to impart valuable lessons throughout his coaching career. “His favorite thing was practicing,” Nancy Wooden said. “He thought his players were so well taught that they could play without him and he could sit up in the stands.”

For 27 years at UCLA, Wooden would carry his rolled-up program and wink at Nellie in the stands. “Everybody thought that (program) was for good luck,” Nancy said. “But he had notes on it: like which (opposing) players were poor free throw shooters.”

Nellie continued to get her share of the limelight, though she did everything she could to shun it. “She didn’t like to be interviewed,” Nancy revealed. “Once an interview ran past (the allotted) time. She said ‘Thank you, but we have to leave.’ He followed us onto an elevator and asked, ‘What’s the most memorable thing you have received from basketball?’ “

Nellie Wooden then left the writer absolutely speechless when she replied, “colitis.”

On another occasion, she was having dinner with actor Walter Matthau. Speaking about being interviewed, she asked, “How do you stand it?” He replied, “Just mumble a lot.”

Wooden retired from UCLA in 1975 after winning his 10th NCAA crown in 12 years. His last contract paid him a meager $32,500 and he received another $8,000 for post-game radio appearances. Ten years later (March 21, 1985), Nellie died, taking a huge hunk of his heart with her.

Twice Wooden has been named “coach of the 20th century” by prominent national organizations. In 2003 he received the highest civilian honor in America – the Presidential Medal of Freedom, at the White House. In 2006 he was one of five charter members enshrined in the new National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo.

He lives in an Encino, Calif., condominium and is visited by a steady stream of relatives and friends. His telephone rings constantly. He loves reading and writing poetry. His 15-step Pyramid of Success still is copied and used religiously by coaches throughout the country.

Many of his former UCLA players are among his greatest admirers. Sven Nater, for instance, has written numerous poems and songs for him and Bill Walton calls constantly. As a UCLA student Walton once balked at shaving off his facial hair. Wooden told him he could do as he wished “but we’ll miss you, Bill.” The hair came off immediately, of course. Walton, now a TV broadcaster, spent 22 minutes to introduce his old coach before his most recent hall of fame induction.

Wooden can only partially explain how he has lived to such a ripe old age. “I’ve practiced moderation all my life,” he said. “I never drank alcohol and only smoked very lightly (before 1950). I have a relative peace with myself. My faith gives me tranquility.”

If Indiana officials ever carve out a Mount Rushmore for their basketball greats, John Wooden’s face undoubtedly will be the one at the very top.

“Indiana High School Basketball’s 20 Most Dominant Players” is available at authorhouse.com.

More MaxPreps John Wooden tributes with recent stories:

Kevin Askeland's Top 10 Wooden recruits.

Mitch Stephens' 2009 goes one-on-one with Wizard.