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

Preface

Steve Jamison

An Uncommon Man

Does any sports figure in the twentieth century stand astride the record books with more authenticity and authority than Coach John Wooden, the legendary teacher of basketball at the University of California at Los Angeles? He is the architect of perhaps the greatest championship record in all of sports.

1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969,1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975

Each of those years, he produced another National Collegiate Athletic Association (ncaa) championship for the UCLA team he coached—altogether ten of them in twelve years, including seven national championships in a row. In a row!

Think for a moment about how that compares to what came before and what has followed. John Wooden shattered all notions ...