John Wooden Passes Away: College Basketball Loses an Icon

There's no debate over who was the greatest coach in college basketball history.

This man won 10 NCAA Championships, including a record seven in a row.

Friday, John Wooden died at the age of 99.

Even though Wooden retired from coaching in 1975, he still attended college basketball games to show his support.

When Wooden coached, there was no player bigger than the team.

He hated flashy dunks, untucked uniforms and undisciplined players.

If Wooden coached in today's college game, he would be tired of "babysitting" unstructured 18 to 23-year-old young men.

Wooden would probably take a pay cut, considering what today's top coaches make in salary.

Some of us knew that Wooden didn't taste success at first when he arrived at UCLA in 1948.

It took some 16 years for Wooden to win his first NCAA title.

That wouldn't fly in today's win now environment.

He signed a player the next year out of New York City, who was the foundation of the UCLA dynasty, by the name of Lew Alcindor.

After seeing Alcindor as a freshman in a game against the varsity dominating, I bet he licked his chops.

Freshmen couldn't play on varsity during Alcindor's time.

When Alcindor joined the varsity as a sophomore, no one could stop him.

Because of Alcindor's ability to throw down thunderous dunks, the NCAA banned dunking until the mid-'70's.

Alcindor, now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, developed a hook shot, which was his trademark in the NBA.

There are many former Wooden players who learned more from him than just basketball.

Imagine how Wooden dealt with rebels like Bill Walton and Sidney Wicks.  They either followed his rules, or he'd kick them off the team.

No college team will ever win seven titles or 88 straight games.

Wooden's players paid attention to detail.

His teams learned about organization and routine, even down to the proper way to put on a pair of socks.

College coaches today would have been a fool not to listen to what Wooden had to say about the game.

The only other UCLA coach to win an NCAA Championship was Jim Harrick in 1995.

Just think what would've happened if a little coach from Indiana, who was an All-American basketball player from Purdue, never made the journey west.

I'm glad I was able to listen to Wooden's ex-players over the years in documentaries and interviews express deep love and gratification for the man.

And Wooden taught many of his players how to be successful in life and didn't accept failure as an option.

As Walton once said, quoting Wooden, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."

I'm sure the sports world, not just college basketball, is mourning the loss of a man who was a great father figure to his players and icon to college athletics.

Wooden's death totally shocked me after I heard about it earlier.

May you rest in peace, young man, and join your wife in heaven.  God appreciates everything you did on earth for many people over the years.