Wooden: A Coach's Life (89 page)

“She came down out of the stands and grabbed that $100 rather quickly”: Gould,
Pioneers of the Hardwood
, p. 83.

In an effort to speed things up, the NCAA’s rules committee added a center line in 1932: Schwomeyer,
Hoosier Hysteria
, p. 99.

it decided to give the home team the option of eliminating the center jump after made free throws: Nelson,
National Basketball League
, p. 17.

“One of the reasons I am sorry to see the center jump relegated to a subordinate place”: Rob Rains,
James Naismith: The Man Who Invented Basketball
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009), p. 166.

“I’d have loved to play [more years] without the center jump”: Wooden interview with Jares.

“It was a brief meeting—a moment in time”: Hall of Fame interview.

an estimated 20 million people around the world were playing his game: Rains,
James Naismith
, p. 169.

“We finally got the idea, so we went back to the center jump”: Wooden interview with Jares.

Ciesar got Wooden to agree to a one-year contract: Gould,
Pioneers of the Hardwood
, p. 92.

“He was very upset”: Ibid., p. 96.

“It was probably the major disagreement that my dear wife and I had in all our years”: Purdue interview.

On April 22, 1943:
South Bend Tribune
, Mar. 8, 1943.

When he arrived, he went straight to a doctor, who diagnosed appendicitis: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 28.

Freddy Stalcup, a former Purdue football player: “Twists of Fate in Wooden’s Life,”
Indianapolis Star
, Apr. 2, 2006.

“When Dad had to go into the service, I was very unsettled”: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 180.

he did not want them living in Chicago, so they returned to South Bend: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 257.

It also caused him to walk with a slight stoop that grew more pronounced as he got older: Bill Libby,
The Walton Gang
(New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1974), p. 186.

“I loved to teach English”: Academy of Achievement interview.

“I don’t know how we ever won the war”: Hall of Fame interview.

The bank that held his mortgage wanted to charge Wooden for the past-due amount: Wooden interview with Jares.

“It was a bitter experience”: Powell interview with Jares.

“I talked it over with Nellie, and I said, ‘Why not?’”: Purdue interview.

8. THE HURRYIN’ SYCAMORES

Interviews: Charlie Foudy, John Gassensmith, Duane Klueh, Jim Powers, Lenny Rzeszewski, Mamie Taylor, Tom Taylor, John Wooden, Nan Wooden

With his teammates looking on, Royer took off dribbling:
Indiana State Alumni Magazine
, Spring 1973.

“that’s the fastest way to get the ball down the court”: Wooden with Jamison,
My Personal Best
, p. 75.

“one of the most difficult things I had to do was cutting the squad”: Academy of Achievement interview.

Wooden’s team included fourteen freshmen and one sophomore: Wooden interview with Jares.

“A lot of the locals were really disturbed”: Reporter’s file for
Sports Illustrated
by Jack Tobin, Aug. 9, 1968; Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 68.

“It’s amazing to me the thesis would be accepted”: Ibid.

“We had a saying”: Powell interview with Jares.

they found their bus surrounded by Evansville fans: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 7; author interview with Duane Klueh.

“He was just that type of individual”: “Living Legend: ‘Good Teacher’ Is All Wooden Wanted to Be,”
Chicago Tribune
, Mar. 5, 1995.

Wooden’s decision caused Walker immense pain: Clarence Walker’s diary, courtesy of Kevin Walker.

blacks accounted for less than 3 percent of the population in Indiana: Leonard J. Moore,
Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921–1928
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991), p. 81.

Stephenson was convicted of rape and second-degree murder: “Who Killed Carol Jenkins?”
New Yorker
, Jan. 7, 2002.

It was also vehemently anti-Catholic: David M. Chalmers,
Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan
(Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1987), p. 172.

“I remember him in his polite, beautiful English”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 284.

“Mom always butted heads with some of the locals about the way they treated blacks”: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 180.

9. CLARENCE

Interviews: Duane Klueh, Jim Powers, John Wooden

“
It’s because they held the ball so long on offense”: Purdue interview.

Manhattan withdrew and the athletic director publicly stated the reason: “Balk at N.A.I.B. Ruling,”
Kansas City Times
, Mar. 5, 1948.

Henshel sent a telegram to the Olympic committee’s chairman recommending that the NAIB champion be dropped: “Olympic Committeeman Suggests U.S. Trials Drop N.A.I.B. Winner,”
New York Times
, Mar. 5, 1948.

on Friday, March 6, two days before the tournament was due to tip off, they

announced that the prohibition had been removed: “Lift Negro Ban,”
Kansas City Times
, Mar. 6, 1948.

The development did not make a huge splash back in Terre Haute: “Indiana State Heads for K.C.,”
Terre Haute Star
, Mar. 6, 1948. The story ended with: “Yesterday in Kansas City tourney officials made a ruling that Negro players would be eligible to compete in the tourney. This will permit Clarence Walker, speedy State guard, to play and Coach Wooden immediately placed him on the squad.”

you’d never know from reading the city’s two major newspapers that something significant had occurred: “Sixteen Survivors Face Stern Competition in NAIB Cage Games Today,”
Kansas City Times
, Mar. 10, 1948.

a poll of five sportswriters: “Rate the Teams,”
Kansas City Star
, Mar. 10, 1948.

hoisted him onto their shoulders, and carried him to the locker room: “Indiana State Rallies to Edge Hamline, 66–65, in Overtime Sizzler,”
Terre Haute Star
, Mar. 13, 1948.

“a note from Los Angeles”: “Bob Nesbit’s News Bits,”
Terre Haute Star
, Mar. 15, 1948.

The station joined the game in progress after the completion of the high school state semifinals:
Terre Haute Star
, Mar. 13, 1948.

So did the 53,704 who watched over six days, as well as the total of $65,777.59 they paid for admission: “Louisville Wins,”
Kansas City Star
, Mar. 14, 1948.

The players were paraded down Wabash Avenue: “Indiana State Cagers Will Receive Noisy Welcome on Return Home Today,”
Terre Haute Tribune
, Mar. 15, 1948.

“I thought he was happy at Indiana State”: Powell interview with Jares.

“He said, ‘Mr. Warriner, I may be in bad down there’”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 275.

He had gone so far as to find a buyer for his house until Indiana increased his salary: Reporter’s file for
Sports Illustrated
by Dick Denny of the
Indianapolis News
, Aug. 10, 1968.

“One man convinced me that John Wooden was the man. It was Dutch Fehring”: Reporter’s file for
Sports Illustrated
by Jack Tobin, Aug. 9, 1968.

“I met John at the airport upon his return and knew that he was hooked”: Powell interview with Jares.

“I didn’t like that way of doing things”: Wooden interview with Jares.

“John always told me, ‘Never take a job where your predecessor remains on the premises’”: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 4.

“I wanted the Minnesota job”: Hall of Fame interview.

Wooden told McCormick he had already agreed to take the position at UCLA: Ibid.; Wooden with Jamison,
My Personal Best
, p. 80; Wooden with Tobin,
They Call Me Coach
, p. 32; Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 71.

“I deeply regret leaving State at this time”: “Johnny Wooden Resigns,”
Indiana Statesman
, Apr. 22, 1948.

10. UNWELCOME

Interviews: Art Alper, Ralph Bauer, Wayne Boulding, Ralph Joeckel, Ken Proctor, Betty Putnam, Paul Saunders, Don Seidel, Eddie Sheldrake, George Stanich

“The fast break is my system”: “Wooden Arrives for Spring Cage Drills,”
Daily Bruin
, April 26, 1948.

“I’ve never played for nor coached a losing team in my life”: “Ned Cronin: Wooden Never Was on a Losing Team,”
Los Angeles Daily News
, Feb. 27, 1953.

“I felt like I was coming to the end of the world”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 83.

“I came from the farm, the country, and Los Angeles was frightening to me”: Academy of Achievement interview.

The Woodens decided to rent an apartment in the Culver City neighborhood: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 80.

“Had I realized the situation, I’m quite certain I wouldn’t have come”: Heisler,
They Shoot Coaches, Don’t They?
, p. 17.

“You think you’re too good to drink with us?” Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 82.

“At UCLA he was now asked to attend every type of function”: Ibid.

“he was lost”: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 7.

“John is misunderstood by many people”: Reporter’s file for
Sports Illustrated
by Art Rosenbaum, Aug. 1, 1968.

“Red had come in and captured the town”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 82.

“We came out here and we were made to feel unwelcome”: Ibid., p. 83.

A question mark appeared opposite that number: Ibid., p. 84.

“I remember those figures because they just transposed the last numbers”: Marv Dunphy,
John R. Wooden: The Coaching Process
(Thesis, Brigham Young University, 1981), p. 55.

“I didn’t say anything about their wind”: Ibid.

The men’s gymnasium had been built in 1932: Andrew Hamilton and John B. Jackson,
UCLA on the Move: During the Fifty Golden Years, 1919–1969
(Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie Press, 1969), p. 70.

“I took the easy job, I must say”: Heisler,
They Shoot Coaches, Don’t They?
, p. 18.

“There were a hundred high school gyms in Indiana that were far, far better”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.

“He was a tenacious, tough, hard-nosed, vicious competitor”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 421.

He derided that tactic as “negative rebounding”: “UCLA: Simple, Awesomely Simple,”
Sports Illustrated
, Nov. 30, 1970.

“A coach who plays up-tempo style, as opposed to ball control, is less likely to be fired”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 230.

“We had a saying”: Powell interview with Jares.

one of the opposing coaches asked Wooden if he wanted to set up a scrimmage the following morning for players who didn’t get into the game: Ibid.

“I was at a new place, trying to get established. You want to do well”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.

11. THE NONCONFORMIST

Interviews: Art Alper, Ralph Joeckel, Jerry Norman, Barry Porter, Paul Saunders, Eddie Sheldrake

“You guys need another pigeon for bridge?”: Reporter file for
Sports Illustrated
by Jack Tobin, Aug. 9, 1968.

“Wooden was a little cornballish and had some straitlaced ideas, and Jerry was a little more sophisticated”: Powell interview with Jares.

“He was very profane”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 42.

“Our hope is to run Conley so much we cut him down to our size”: “Midwest Boasts More Top Cagers,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 6, 1950.

Joeckel banked in a shot from just beyond half-court in the closing seconds: Hamilton and Jackson,
UCLA on the Move
, p. 177.

Purdue sent three top administrators to Los Angeles: “How Purdue Failed to Snatch Wooden,”
Los Angeles Daily Mirror
, Mar. 3, 1950.

Purdue also dangled perks: Wooden with Jamison,
My Personal Best
, p. 98.

“They knew what I wanted to talk about”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 35.

“I guess they had learned enough about me”: Academy of Achievement interview.

“My family likes it here and so I chose to stay”: “How Purdue Failed to Snatch Wooden,”
Los Angeles Daily Mirror
, Mar. 3, 1950.

“I was irritated to say the least”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 35.

“If there was no hope of a new pavilion, there is no hope of keeping Wooden”: “OK Pavilion Plans,”
Daily Bruin
, Mar. 3, 1950.

“Ridgway was being disciplined”: “Ridgway ‘Saw Light,’ Says UCLA Cage Coach,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 12, 1951.

“Stop Norman and you can stop the Bruins”: “Bruins May Sew Up Title Tonight,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 29, 1952.

“Norman has been our spark”: “Huskies to Collide with ‘New’ UCLA,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 4, 1952.

“Mr. Wooden and I just had a few differences”: “Jerry Norman Transformed, Now Bruin Cage Team’s Spark Plug,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 20, 1952.

“It was one of our worst games in quite a while”: “Wooden Sad, Feerick Glad Over Outcome,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 22, 1952.

12. L.A. STORY

Interviews: Art Alper, Jerry Evans, Ken Flower, Marv Harshman, Denny Miller, Ed Powell, Betty Putnam, Doug Sale, Bob Seizer, Eddie Sheldrake, Ron Tomsic, John Wooden