John Wooden

John Wooden
	Wooden, c. 1972
Biographical details
Born	October 14, 1910; Hall, Indiana, U.S.
Died	June 4, 2010 (aged 99); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Playing career
Basketball
1929–1932	Purdue
1932–1937	Indianapolis Kautskys
1937–1938	Whiting / Hammond Ciesar All-Americans
1938–1939	Indianapolis Kautskys
Position	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1933–1935	Dayton HS
1935–1944	South Bend Central HS
1946–1948	Indiana State
1948–1975	UCLA
Baseball
1948	Indiana State
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1946–1948	Indiana State
Head coaching record
Overall	664–162 (college basketball); 7–7 (college baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	As player: Helms national championship (1932); As head coach: 10 NCAA tournament (1964, 1965, 1967–1973, 1975); 12 NCAA regional—Final Four (1962, 1964, 1965, 1967–1975); 3 PCC tournament (1953–1955); 15 Pac-12 regular season (1950, 1952, 1956, 1962–1965, 1967–1975);
Awards
	As player:; All-NBL First Team (1938); NBL scoring leader (1933); 3× Consensus All-American (1930–1932); Helms Player of the Year (1932); Big Ten Medal of Honor (1932); As coach:; The Sporting News Sportsman of the Year (1970); Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (1972); 5x AP College Coach of the Year (1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973); 7x Henry Iba Award (1964, 1967, 1969–1973); 5x NABC Coach of the Year (1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972); 6x UPI College Coach of the Year (1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973); 4x Sporting News College Coach of the Year (1964, 1969, 1972, 1973); Presidential Medal of Freedom (2003); Theodore Roosevelt Award (1996); Indiana Sports Hall of Fame (2020);
	Basketball Hall of Fame; Inducted in 1960 (as a player) 1973 (as a coach)
	College Basketball Hall of Fame; Inducted in 2006
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Branch	US Navy
Service years	1942–1946
Rank	Lieutenant
Conflicts	World War II

John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head coach for the UCLA Bruins, including a record seven in a row. No other team has won more than four in a row in Division I college men's or women's basketball. Within this period, his teams won an NCAA men's basketball record 88 consecutive games. Wooden won the prestigious Henry Iba Award as national coach of the year a record seven times and won the Associated Press award five times.

As a 5-foot-10-inch (1.78 m) guard with the Purdue Boilermakers, Wooden was the first college basketball player to be named an All-American three times, and the 1932 Purdue team on which he played as a senior was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA tournament national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and was retroactively listed as the top-ranked team by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. He played professionally in the National Basketball League (NBL). Wooden was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (1960) and as a coach (1973), the first person to be enshrined in both categories.

One of the most respected coaches in the history of sports, Wooden was admired by many of his former players, including Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton. He was known for delivering short, simple motivational messages to his players, including his concept of the "Pyramid of Success", which emphasized success in life as well as in basketball. Wooden's 29-year coaching career and reputation for leadership contributed to a legacy that extended beyond sports into fields such as business, personal development, and organizational leadership.