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HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE As a player, Wooden played in the basketball-crazed state of Indiana . As a schoolboy, he played at Martinsville High School , where he led his team to the state championship final three consecutive years, winning the tournament in ( 1927 ). He was a three time All-State selection. After graduating in 1928 he entered Purdue University , where he was a three-time All-America n guard and a member of Purdue's 1932 national championship team (the NCAA did not officially recognize a champion until 1939). John Wooden was an All-Big Ten and All-Midwestern (1930-32) while at Purdue University. He was also selected for membership in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Wooden was nicknamed "The Indiana Rubber Man" for his suicidal dives on the hardcourt. He graduated from Purdue in 1932 with a degree in English, and later earned his Master's Degree at Indiana State Teacher's College (now Indiana State University ) where he spent 1946-48 as Athletic Director and basketball coach. After college Wooden spent several years playing professionally with the Indianapolis Kautskys (later the Indianapolis Jets ) while teaching and coaching in the High School ranks. During one 46 game stretch he made 134 consecutive free throws. In 1942 he enlisted in the Navy where he gained the rank of Lieutenant during World War II . COACHING CAREER High School Wooden coached two years at Dayton High School in Kentucky . His first year at Dayton would be the only time he would have a losing record (6-11). After Dayton he relocated in Indiana, teaching English and coaching basketball at South Bend Central High School until entering the Armed Forces. His high school coaching record was 218-42. Indiana State University After the war, Wooden coached at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana from 1946 to 1948, succeeding his high school coach, Glenn Curtis , who became head coach of the professional Detroit Falcons. In 1947, Wooden's team won the conference title and received an invitation to the NAIB National Tournament in Kansas City. Wooden refused the invitation citing the NAIB's policy banning African American players. A member on the Indiana State Sycamores' team was Clarence Walker , an African-American athlete from East Chicago, Indiana . In 1948 the NAIB changed this policy and Wooden guided his team to the NAIB final, losing to Louisville . That year, Walker became the first African-American to play in a post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament. John Wooden was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall Of Fame on February 3, 1984. UCLA In 1948 Wooden accepted the coaching position at UCLA where he gained lasting fame, winning 665 games and ten NCAA titles in twelve seasons, including 7 in a row from 1967 to 1973. His UCLA teams also had a record winning streak of 88 games, four perfect 30-0 seasons, and won 38 straight games in the NCAA Tournament. In 1972 , he received '' Sports Illustrated '' magazine's " Sportsman Of The Year " award. Nicknamed "The Wizard Of Westwood" , Wooden retired immediately after his 10th title in 1975 . John Wooden coached what would be his final game in Pauley Pavilion March 1st, 1975 in a 93-59 victory over Stanford . Four weeks later he would surprisingly announce his retirement following the NCAA semi-final victory against the University of Louisville and before his 10th National championship victory against Kentucky . UCLA had actually been Wooden's second choice for a coaching position in 1948. He was also pursued for a coaching position by the University Of Minnesota , and it was his and wife Nellie's desire to remain in the Midwest . Inclement weather prevented Wooden from receiving the scheduled phone offer from the U of M, and thinking they had lost interest, accepted the UCLA position. He was married to his wife Nellie for 53 years, until her death in 1985 . SEVEN POINT CREED John Wooden's Seven Point Creed, given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from Grammar School :
Wooden also has authored a lecture and a book about the Pyramid Of Success . The Pyramid of success consists of philosophical building blocks for winning at basketball and at life. He is also the author of several other books about basketball and life. THE WOODEN CHAMPIONSHIPS LEGACY and Bill Walton .]] The John Wooden era at UCLA is unrivaled in terms of national championships (the next-closest school, Kentucky , won 7 championships over a 50-year period; the next-winningest coach, Adolph Rupp , won four; Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski have three titles each) and undefeated seasons (Wooden had four; no other coach has more than one). HONORS Since 1977 , the college basketball player of the year award has been named the John R. Wooden Award . Two annual Doubleheader men's basketball events called the John R. Wooden Classic and The Wooden Tradition are held in Wooden's honor. In 2003 , UCLA dedicated the basketball court in Pauley Pavilion in honor of John and Nell Wooden. Wooden also has the gym at Martinsville High School and the student recreation center at UCLA named in his honor. To this day, Wooden retains the title Head Men's Basketball Coach Emeritus at UCLA {Link without Title} , and attends most home games. FOLLOWING WOODEN Many would argue that subsequent UCLA coaches have been plagued by the success of Wooden. Wooden's heir at UCLA, Gene Bartow , went 28-5 in 1976 and lost in the national semi-finals, won 85.2% of his games (compared to Wooden's 80.8%) in two years, yet received death threats from unsatisfied UCLA Fans . Wooden himself has often joked about being a victim of his own success, calling his successors on the phone and playfully identifying himself ominously as "we the Alumni ...". In his biography, Wooden recounts walking off the court after his last game coaching in 1975, having just won his tenth title, only to have a UCLA fan walk up and say, "Great win coach, this makes up for letting us down last year" (UCLA had lost in the semi-finals in 1974 ). {Link without Title} Four coaches left UCLA in the nine years following Wooden, and none of the seven former UCLA coaches since Wooden have left the school on positive terms. One former UCLA head coach, ESPN analyst Steve Lavin (fired from UCLA in 2003 ), has called this post-Wooden phenomenon a " Pathology ," and believes that every basketball coach will eventually be fired or forced out from UCLA. UCLA Basketball went 20 years after Wooden's retirement before winning another national championship, finally hanging a Banner again in 1995 under coach Jim Harrick . Harrick was terminated by UCLA for an NCAA violation 18 months later. In 2006, Ben Howland led the team back to the national championship game for the first time since the 1995 title game. On April 3rd, ESPN's Andy Katz reported that John Wooden was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for "non life threatening" reasons. Katz asserted, Wooden would most certainly watch the NCAA National Championship from his hospital bed. PRAISE AND CRITICISM Although Wooden is highly respected, his career has not been without some controversy. In his later years at UCLA the image of Wooden was that of a soft spoken, grandfather-like figure. In his younger days as UCLA coach however, Wooden was known as one of the great baiters of referees, although he reportedly never used Profanity . Critics of Wooden have also speculated how much Wooden knew about the exploits of a UCLA Booster , Sam Gilbert , who allegedly helped some UCLA players financially, possibly in violation of NCAA rules in effect at that time. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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