Drew Brees Pays $264K for John Wooden Jersey to Display at Purdue's Mackey Arena

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

John Wooden is best known for being a legendary coach of the UCLA Bruins, but he spent his playing days in a Purdue Boilermakers uniform.

Now, the uniform he wore from 1930-32 will hang in Purdue's Mackey Arena forever—and it's all thanks to Drew Brees.

Brees, who played in West Lafayette from 1997-2000, recently dropped $264,000 at an auction to take ownership of a Wooden Purdue jersey, per Nathan Baird of the Journal & Courier. He came forward on Twitter to let Boilermakers fans know that he did so in order to make sure the uniform gets a proper home.

"The first words out of my mouth to him upon finding out the John Wooden jersey would be made available to the public was, 'We have to get this for Purdue University. This jersey belongs in Mackey Arena back at Purdue.'"

Brees signed a $50 million contract back in March, so he can afford to spend a quarter of a million dollars for his alma mater.

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