Money Players

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Monday, Nov. 20

NABC Interview
That morning in the Hyatt Regency, Coach Wooden sits for more than an hour for an interview that can be viewed once the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame opens next season at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

The interview spans his entire life, from his upbringing in rural Indiana, to his college days at Purdue, through his UCLA head coaching years.

Coach Wooden will always say one of the great influences in his life was his father, Joshua Hugh Wooden. He talks about the philosophies his father handed down to him: “Two Sets of Threes” –

1. Never lie.
2. Never cheat.
3. Never steal

1. Don’t whine
2. Don’t complain
3. Don’t make excuses

On the day Coach Wooden graduated from elementary school in Centerton IN, he received from his father a two-dollar bill (which Coach Wooden would give to his own son Jim) and a 3 x 5 card. Written on one side of that card was a verse by the Rev. Henry Van Dyke and on the opposite side, Joshua’s  personal Seven Point Creed (Coach Wooden still carries a copy of the Creed with him) –

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books, including the Good Book.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his life more true:
To think without confusion clearly,
To love his fellow-man sincerely,
To act from honest motives purely,
To trust in God and Heaven securely.
            --Henry Van Dyke

Basketball Game in Municipal Auditorium
Municipal Auditorium is quite the historic site for college basketball, hosting nine NCAA men’s basketball Final Fours between 1950 and 1964, including three of the first four.
There is a VIP reception at Municipal before the games. Sitting there with Coach  Wooden, Nan and Craig, a family asks if they can have their picture taken with the Coach. Of course he agrees, but the family’s husband is perturbed because his friend, who was to take the picture, was nowhere to be found. Craig then jumps up and happily volunteers to take the portrait – it is a great shot, Coach Wooden with that beaming family. Everywhere we go, everyone wants a photo with Coach.

From the reception, we walk Coach Wooden into the arena and everyone stands and applauds. His front row seat is behind the ESPN broadcast desk. Coach Wooden sits next to Smith, Russell, Robertson and their families. Vitale, who is the ESPN color analyst for the games, turns around and spends a few minutes with all the honorees.

We watch all of the Duke-Air Force game and most of the Marquette-Texas Tech contest. Early in the second half of the Marquette-Texas Tech game, the Hall of Fame inductees are introduced at center court. Back in his seat, Coach Wooden notes that he was most impressed with Marquette’s athleticism and aggressiveness.

Reprinted with permission from Bruin Blue. © 2007 Bill Bennett and Bruin Blue. All rights reserved.

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The Induction Ceremony

It is a first class, elite event from start to finish.

CBS analyst Billy Packer is the Master of Ceremonies. There are speeches from - Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski; a prerecorded video presentation by ESPN's Dick Vitale; Tom Jernstedt, NCAA Executive Vice President; Kansas City's mayor Kay Barnes and Jim Haney, the executive director of the NABC.

"This is a big night for college basketball," Haney said. "It captures more than 100 years of history and lays the groundwork for the future of it."

Brown presents his college coach, Dean Smith. During his presentation, he looks out into the audience at Coach Wooden and says, "I always felt kind of uncomfortable being introduced as the UCLA head coach, because we all know there is only one UCLA head coach and that's John Wooden (acknowledging and pointing to where Coach Wooden is sitting in the crowd)."

Texas Tech's Bobby Knight, who this season passed Smith to become college basketball's all-time winningest coach, inducts Bill Russell and describes him as the "all-time MVP."

In his speech, Russell says it was the "highest honor he ever had in basketball." He commends coaches Smith and Wooden for their work and efforts during the civil rights movement. Coach Smith participated in sit-ins in North Carolina in the 1960s and Russell says Coach Wooden was the only head coach who played more than one Black player on the West Coast.

Walton's gives a 22-minute tribute to Coach Wooden. It is serious, it is comedy, it is opinionated – it is Bill Walton at his best. Some of Bill's comments include-

"To play for John Wooden was the greatest thrill of my life. They were the most challenging, demanding things I've done in my life".

"We never started a day with Coach Wooden looking at us and saying – What do you men want to do today?"

"Coach Wooden never speaks of himself, he never draws attention to anything he's ever done."

"In four years, Wooden taught us everything we'd ever need to know. Not about basketball, about life."

"Wait a minute Coach, if basketball isn't about size and strength, how come Shaq's got all the money, Kareem's got all the records and Wilt had 20,000 girlfriends?"

Walton then introduces Coach Wooden - "It is now my deepest honor to present the most positive, the most upbeat, the most constructive person I have ever known – John Wooden, a man who never looks back and who's always about what's next."

Coach's speech

Coach Wooden then comes to the stage and looking at Walton, jokingly says, "Now you all know what I had to put up with all those years."

He says it's nice for him to come back to Kansas City. Coach Wooden reminisces about the Bruins' first NCAA title in 1964 at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.

He then talks about his two teams from Indiana State that had a chance to play in the NAIA Tournament, hosted by Kansas City. In 1947, Wooden refused to bring his Sycamore squad because the NAIA did not allow African-Americans in the event and Indiana State had a Black player (Clarence Walker) on its roster. In 1948, Wooden again refused to bring Indiana State to Kansas City. But before the tournament started, the NAIA allowed African-Americans to play (according the Kansas City Star sportswriter Blair Kerkhoff, 1948 was an Olympic year and the NAIA team champion had a spot in the Olympic Trials tournament. The Olympic Committee threatened to pull the invitation if African-Americans were not allowed to play in the NAIA Tournament). The NAACP, Indiana State's university president and Walker's parents also urged Coach Wooden to take his team to Kansas City. While there, the Sycamores stayed at the Muehlebach Hotel and Walker housed with a local minister.

"I'm pleased whenever I think of that NAIA Tournament," Coach Wooden says. "I think that was a big moment in our sports history. A few years later, an All-Black team (Tennessee State) won that tournament. Maybe we opened the door a little bit."

Coach Wooden goes on to say he is proud to have been selected into the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and is "so grateful to those that love this wonderful game."

He ends his acceptance with a poem, entitled God's Hall of Fame:
 
          God's Hall of Fame

This crowd on Earth, they soon forget, the heroes of the past.
They cheer like mad, until you fall and that's how long you last.
But God, He never does forget, and in his Hall of Fame, inscribed up there beyond the stars, engraved you'll find your name.
I'll tell you friends I wouldn't trade, my name however small – inscribed up there beyond the stars in that celestial hall.
For any famous name on earth or glory that they share – I'd rather be an unknown here and have my name up There
                                                --Author Unknown

After Coach Wooden's poem recital, you could hear a pin drop as the tears flowed.

Reprinted with permission from Bruin Blue. © 2007 Bill Bennett and Bruin Blue. All rights reserved.

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Daily Diary
Sunday, Nov. 19

Leaving for Kansas City
You get very spoiled traveling with Coach Wooden. There’s the town car that picks him up at his condo in Encino and drives him to the Raytheon private terminal in Van Nuys. There, the private jet is waiting, and in less than three hours, you arrive in Kansas City, where a limousine is waiting to take us to the Kansas City Hyatt Regency.

VIP Reception
Coach Wooden and his daughter are in adjoining rooms on the 15th floor, where I head to escort them to the private reception on the 40th floor of the hotel. Upon entering Coach Wooden’s room, there sits Lee Hunt, with his wife, Elizabeth. Hunt was a Bruin assistant under Gene Bartow, the first UCLA head coach after Coach Wooden’s retirement in 1975. Hunt ended his career as the head basketball coach and athletic director at Missouri-Kansas City.

When the Hunts depart, I escort the Wooden’s to the 40th floor. Walking into the reception, there sit Smith, Russell and Robertson, joined by Coach Wooden. As people gather around the four Hall of Famers, everyone is frantically taking pictures.

Press Conference/Public Reception
From the reception, we head down to the adjoining Crown Center Exhibit Hall for the press conference and induction ceremony. Although this is a celebration for the history of college basketball, it could just as well be a highlight reel for UCLA basketball. Present in the Exhibit Hall for the press conference are –

Coach Wooden, who guided the Bruins to a record 10 NCAA Championships, including seven consecutive from 1967-73 and who led UCLA to a record 88-game overall winning streak and a 38 -game NCAA Tournament winning streak.

Larry Brown, UCLA’s head coach from 1979-81 who led the Bruins to the 1980 NCAA Championship game. He’s the only coach in history to win an NBA Title (Detroit Pistons/2004) and an NCAA Championship (Kansas/1988). Brown was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2002. He is there to present his former coach, Dean Smith.

Denny Crum, a UCLA letterman (1958-59) under Coach Wooden, he was also a Bruin assistant (1959-60/1968-71) under Coach Wooden and was on the UCLA varsity staff for three NCAA Championship Bruin runs (1969-71). After his UCLA days, Crum was the head coach at Louisville for 30 seasons, leading the Cardinals to two NCAA Championships (1980/1986) and six Final Fours. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1994. Crum traveled to Kansas City to accompany Coach Wooden to all of Sunday’s events.

Bill Walton, the Bruin star center led UCLA to two NCAA titles (1972-73) and was a three-time National Player of the Year (1972-74). He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1993.

Following the press conference, at the public reception, Coach Wooden stayed seated at the dais signing a steady steam of autographs. The Air Force basketball team is also there, in their military uniform, roaming the Exhibit Hall, taking their picture with every basketball luminary in the place.

Next up: The Induction Ceremony

Reprinted with permission from Bruin Blue. © 2007 Bill Bennett and Bruin Blue. All rights reserved.