With the recent passing of John Wooden, an Indiana native and college basketball legend, we reached out to a few members of the Valparaiso basketball community to get their reaction to the news of the passing and to send us some of their memories of the "Wizard of Westwood" and how he affected their lives on and off the basketball court.
I knew John Wooden well. I scouted Digger Phelp's teams for John, whenever he played Notre Dame. John Wooden was intelligent, as evidenced by an advanced Degree in English. No doubt he was a great coach, but his main asset was his amazing ability to remember names. I have stood beside him and watched as he greeted a great many coaches from different areas of the United States and he would call each of them by their first name.
As a result, he made everyone feel like they were his personal friend. If you do that over a period of years you build an ever increasing list of friends, which is why he was able to avoid the main pitfall of successful coaches - that being: if you win a lot of games, then, because of jealousy, people are anxious to take pot-shots at you verbally . John Wooden is the only successful coach that I never heard a negative word said about him. There never has been, nor will there ever be another John Wooden! They threw away the mold!
-Virgil Sweet, Valparaiso High School Basketball Legend
"Valparaiso Basketball Community Remembers John Wooden Coach Wooden was college basketball when I was growing up. The 60's and 70's was when I grew up and the dominance of Coach Wooden's UCLA teams was something to remember. I can still remember what big news it was that Lew Alcindor would travel all the way to Los Angeles from New York City to play in college.
I was always stuck by the fact that Coach Wooden always seemed to be coaching from the bench. He didn't pace the sidelines or yell during games. His teams were always prepared."
- Mark LeBarbera, Director of Athletics at Valparaiso University
"In 1968 VU Head Coach Gene Bartow held a fall basketball clinic. Among the speakers were Bo Mallard, coach of the state champion Gary Roosevelt Panthers, Drake head coach Maury John who had recruited a lot of talent from the Region, and John Wooden, Coach of the national champion UCLA Bruins. Our high school coach, Virgil Sweet, had volunteered us as clinic demonstrators. I was only a junior and the previous season, my teammates Bob Barthold, Joe Ellis, and I had watched UCLA and their All-American, Lou Alcindor, go down to defeat to Houston and their All American, Elvin Hayes, in the Astrodome in what was then the “Game of the Century.” We watched the game at Bob’s house back when televised games were a rare event and a really big deal for basketball junkies like us. UCLA avenged the loss in the NCAA tournament in spectacular fashion, 101-69, and cruised to their second consecutive NCAA Championship.
Needless to say, we were pretty excited about demonstrating for Coach Wooden. As luck would have it, I got to play the role of Lou Alcindor, who would change his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar and go on to be the NBA’s all time leading scorer. This was heady stuff for a not so imposing 6’5”, 160 pound high school forward. We ran the famed UCLA Offense and paid careful attention to everything Coach Wooden said. We didn’t want to screw up this opportunity to rub shoulders with the greatest coach in the land (or incur the wrath of Coach Sweet either!) When we were done Coach Wooden praised us for being “the best clinic demonstrators ever.” I think Coach Sweet was really proud and the compliment made us fell like we were a sure bet to finish our season at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
At that age I had no idea that I wanted to be a coach but I soaked up everything Coach Wooden said and felt honored to be able to shake the hand of this Indiana legend and coaching genius. If there was one lesson I learned that day, it was Coach Wooden’s attention to detail. Coach was uncompromising in his expectations of the precision required to run the UCLA Offense. Every dribble, every pass, every cut, and every shot had to be executed to perfection. It was a great experience for me and my Valpo Viking teammates."
- Joe Otis, Boy’s Varsity Head Basketball Coach, Valparaiso High School
When I was doing research on my book, I discovered that Valpo played South Bend Central in the 1940-1941 season in a holiday tourney and lost 40-30 to the Bears. Johnny Wooden was the SB coach, so the Vikes were 0-1 against the "Wizard". I'm sure VHS was not the only school to have a losing record against John Wooden.
My favorite John Wooden quote is the one that goes something like this: "Talent is God given - be thankful; praise is man given - be humble; conceit is self given - be careful."
- John Knauff, Basketball Historian
This is a great list of quotes from Coach Wooden with many showing how he impacted coaches and players beyond the game.
On Life
- “Things work out for the best for those who make the best of the way things work out.”
- “When you’re through learning, you’re through.”
- “Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.”
- “Wooden Family sets of 3’s” Never lie. Don’t whine. Never cheat. Don’t complain. Never steal. Don’t make excuses."
- “Balance is one of the most important things in basketball and in life as well.”
- “Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.”
- “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
Coach’s Faith
- “God never closes one door without opening another.”
- “I am just a common man who’s true to his beliefs.”
- “O’ Lord, if I seem to lose my faith in Thee, do not Thou lose Thy faith in me.”
From Coach’s Expectations For His Players
- “Remember that you represent others who are responsible for you as well as yourself and your personal appearance and conduct should not reflect discredit in any way upon yourself or upon those whom you represent. Cleanliness, neatness, politeness, and good manners are qualities that should be characteristic of those who are of great influence on young people and you certainly qualify for that category. Be a good example.” The Team “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
- “The star of the team is the team.”
- “No player is bigger than the team.”
On Being The Best You Can Be
- “Don’t try to be better than somebody else, but never cease trying to be the best you can be.”
- “Beating an opponent is not a goal, but a by-product of success.”
- “Success is the peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming”.
- “…acquire peace of mind by becoming the best that you are capable of becoming.”
- “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”
- “I am not what I ought to be, not what I want to be, not what I am going to be, but thankful that I am not what I used to be.”
- “Success is not something others can give to you.”
- “Anger prevents proper thinking and makes you vulnerable.”
- “Motivation must come from the belief that ultimate success lies in giving your personal best.”
- “You never fail if you know in your heart that you did the best of which you are capable.”
- “We don’t control what the other team does to prepare. We can only control what we do to prepare.”
- “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” “Play to your potential.”
- “A combination of personal qualities and values are intrinsic to making the effort to reach (a player’s) potential as a person. There is a direct relationship between what it takes to be a good basketball player and the requirements for being a good person.”
Practices
- “The way you practice is the way you play.”
- “Practice is where a championship is won.”
- “End practices on a happy note.”
About Teaching Youth
- “The greatest word in the whole dictionary is love.”
- “Be slow to criticize and quick to commend.”
- “Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good models more than they need critics. It’s one of a parent’s greatest responsibilities and opportunities.”
- “The person you are is the person your child will become.”
Paying Attention To Details
- “Little things done well is probably the greatest key to success.”
- “If you do enough small things right, big things happen.”
- “Be quick but don’t hurry.”
-Keith Freeman, Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Valparaiso University