Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

Knowing When to Leave

As I walked across the court of the San Diego Sports Arena after the final buzzer on March 29, 1975, many things went through my mind. I was pleased we had just won our semifinal game against Louisville and would advance to the finals the following Monday night. I recalled that it was in the semis just the previous year that North Carolina State had ended our record of seven consecutive national championships.

Now we had just outscored Louisville, which was coached by my dear friend and former assistant coach, Denny Crum, 75–74. It had been a terrific game of two teams with similar styles performing well. Even though I really hated to see him lose, I didn’t want him to win that particular game. We met briefly and told each ...