Wooden: A Coach's Life (90 page)

“After all the trucks made their deliveries and came back, I would call the next day’s orders, sweep out the place, and head over the hill to UCLA”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 36.

“The better basketball players in the Midwest are no better than our basketball players in the far west”: “Midwest Boasts More Top Cagers,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 6, 1950.

a member of the school’s faculty committee on finances recommended that the project be financed by raising the annual student fee by four dollars: “Pavilion Called Feasible by Rep Meet Speakers,”
Daily Bruin
, Apr. 24, 1952.

“It was nothing but murder in there. Like walking into an oven”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 89.

“It didn’t displease me that other teams felt that it was a sweatbox”: Wooden interview with Jares.

“persecution complex”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 38.

“I don’t know how I got anything done”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.

some 6,200 veterans enrolled: Hamilton and Jackson,
UCLA on the Move
, p. 107.

“I’m just a common person”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 75.

“He felt a little estranged from his son”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 409.

“Who’s in charge of this school?”: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 251.

when Wooden read the label and saw that it contained blackberry brandy, he refused to drink the stuff: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 407.

“When he first came out west he was provincial, a little aloof”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 241.

At one point he got her an appointment with a hypnotist, but it didn’t work: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 40.

“Too soon!”: “John Thinks His Pre-Game Bruin Ritual Needs Repairs,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 13, 1960.

“I probably would have had a rough time at some place where you have to go out and get them”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.

“You know, this is not a bad place to live”: Purdue interview.

“We became settled”: Academy of Achievement interview.

The only time they bickered in front of the kids was when he discovered she had again neglected to register checks she had written from their bank account: Bisheff,
John Wooden
, p. 40.

13. WILLIE THE WHALE

Interviews: Jerry Evans, Bill Johnston, Sherrill Luke, Bobby Pounds, Ed Powell, Morris Taft

The
Daily Bruin
said Jackie looked like a “wasted robot”: Arnold Rampersad,
Jackie Robinson: A Biography
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), p. 73.

“My last game in high school was in front of eighteen thousand people”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 91.

“Johnny was the first person in my dressing room”: Reporter’s file for
Sports Illustrated
by Dick Denny, Aug. 10, 1968.

“My mother doesn’t think that I should accept this money, and neither do I”: Willie Naulls,
Levitation’s View: Lessons Voiced from an Extraordinary Journey
(Laguna Niguel, Calif.: Willie Naulls Ministries, 2005), p. 29.

When Naulls complained to Wooden, the coach told Naulls he knew nothing about such arrangements: Ibid., p. 127.

“With Wooden, you don’t feel you can do this”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 300.

Naulls enrolled in extra classes, got reimbursed for the books, and then he returned them to the bookstore and pocketed the refunds: Naulls,
Levitation’s View
, p. 74.

“You do not deserve any special parking privileges”: Ibid., p. 73.

“Our team will be helped and will improve when Naulls gets into shape”: “‘Loaded’ Bruin Hoopmen Rate as Powerful Title Contenders,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 10, 1953.

They also sat together that night in a segregated movie theater: Naulls,
Levitation’s View
, p. 160.

on a drive to the basket, he elbowed the guy in the mouth as hard as he could: Ibid., p. 163.

“Two hands on the ball will get you more playing time”: Ibid., p. 274.

“I was tremendously insulted because he never even discussed it with me”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 299.

“Oh, Wooden is the best college coach of all time”: Ibid., p. 274.

14. THE DONS

Interviews: Carroll Adams, Bill Eblin, Morris Taft

Wooden ordered them back into the locker room, where he upbraided them for being so impressed: Naulls,
Levitation’s View
, p. 207.

“I’m gonna whip you, boy, real bad”: Ibid.

“the greatest job any one man ever did against UCLA”: “Utah Tops Tough Card for Diablos,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 22, 1954.

“I always have felt the responsibility belongs to the team behind to change what they’re doing”: “Trojans Expected to Improve This Week,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 15, 1955.

“I think both of them should give this game of basketball some thought as to what they are doing to it”: “Twogood Raps Bruin, Tribe Stalling Tactics,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 17, 1955.

“Contrary to a lot of opinions, I’d like to see a lot more games just like that”: “John Wooden Speaks Up for 24-Second Rule,”
Los Angeles Times
, Jan. 31, 1956.

“We got out ahead of them and slowed down our style of play”: “Dons Favored by Eight over UCLA,”
San Francisco Chronicle
, Dec. 30, 1955.

“It stunned us—and it beat us”: John Wooden interview with Charlie Rose, Dec. 15, 2000.

“Russell’s defensive play kills you”: “Dons Triumph over UCLA,”
San Francisco Chronicle,”
Dec. 31, 1955.

“A man has to make up his own mind in a situation that affects so many others”: Naulls,
Levitation’s View
, p. 348.

“I’ve heard some protests from the Bay Area regarding Venice High’s short floor”: “Cal Gets Its Chance to Halt Bruin Quintet,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 28, 1956.

“Willie can do so many more things”: “Wooden Rates Naulls Better All-Around Cager Than Russell,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 1, 1956.

“To this day I can’t understand how they could have passed up Willie Naulls”: John Wooden interview with ESPN, Aug. 13, 2002.

15. PETE

Interviews: Ned Averbuck, Bob Berry, Denny Crum, Gary Cunningham, Bob Dalton, Bill Eblen, John Green, Bill Kilmer, Bill McClintock, Tom Newell, Jerry Norman, Ben Rogers, Earl Schulz, Eddie Sheldrake, Roland Underhill

the
Oakland Tribune
published an article alleging that UCLA football players were given $40 above the $75 in expenses permitted: “Report Says Bruins Got Secret Grid Pay,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 2, 1956.

The PCC found the charges to be true and responded in heavy-handed fashion: “Entire UCLA Grid Team Faces Ban,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 22, 1956.

more than fifty athletes a total of over $71,000: “SC Accused of Paying Athletes $71,235,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 24, 1956.

the PCC imposed on UCLA a three-year suspension from championship and bowl competitions in all sports, plus fines totaling around $93,000: “Ban Against UCLA Blamed on Rivals,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 24, 1956; Hamilton and Jackson,
UCLA on the Move
, pp. 130–31.

The Los Angeles City Council struck back by passing a resolution: “City Council Urges SC, UCLA to Bolt,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 14, 1956; “Will Bruins Bolt PCC?”
Los Angeles Times
, Nov. 30, 1956.

“Our balance again proved true”: “Balance Makes Bruin Cagers Click,”
Los Angeles Times
, Jan. 15, 1957.

“It was a feeling of being alone and no one understanding the dark thoughts I was having”: Bruce Jenkins,
A Good Man: The Pete Newell Story
(Berkeley, Calif.: Frog, 1999), p. 182.

“It would drive you up a wall”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 326.

“If you don’t want to shoot, go to Cal”: Jenkins,
Good Man
, p. 121; Joe Jares notes.

“John didn’t like our slowdown style at first”: Jenkins,
Good Man
, p. 120.

“the team making the fewer mistakes generally wins”: “We Don’t Concede Anything,”
Sports Illustrated
, Jan. 18, 1960.

“a player should be conditioned to play the last five minutes of a game”: Ibid.

Newell himself was on hand when they took on USC a few days before: “SC Upsets UCLA In 84–80 Cage Thriller,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 27, 1957.

“They never played timeouts again with us”: Jenkins,
Good Man
, p. 119.

the Cal faculty objected to its southern counterpart’s desire to move its campus: Hamilton and Jenkins,
UCLA on the Move
, p. 7.

“This could be the tallest and also the slowest Bruin team I’ve had”: “Optimism Abounds at Cage Lunch,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 3, 1957.

“They caught up with the fast break after a while”: H. Anthony Medley,
UCLA Basketball: The Real Story
(Los Angeles: Galant Press, 1972), p. 11.

“I would not do that”: Heisler,
They Shoot Coaches, Don’t They?
, p. 19.

The city announced in the fall of 1957 that an architect’s designs had been completed for a multipurpose arena: “Cage Scribes Given Latest Word on ‘the Hole’ at Weekly Meet,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 17, 1957.

the regents and trustees at UCLA, California, and USC formally decided to withdraw from the league effective the summer of 1959: “UCLA and Cal Can Withdraw from PCC In ’58,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 22, 1957.

“The rule would eliminate the occasional, farcical game”: “Wooden for 30-Second Cage Rule,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 4, 1958.

earning the nickname the “Wizard of Westwood”: “Senior Cagers Falter, Bruins, Waves Roll On,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 26, 1962.

he was sharing a motel bed with a prostitute: “Red Sanders and a Paradise Lost,”
Bruin Report
, July 26, 2010.

Wooden “suffered in silence”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 81.

“the most inexperienced team since I’ve been at UCLA”: “SC-Bruin Cagers Christen Arena,”
Los Angeles Times
, Nov. 26, 1959.

He hobbled on crutches for several weeks: “First Casualty of Cage Season Is Bruin Coach,”
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 24, 1959.

“We allowed Oklahoma State to play its game and you can’t do that”: “Twogood Praises Kemp,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 15, 1959.

“Why don’t you call a technical foul on me and get it out of your system?”: “Ref Let Game Get out of Control, Says Wooden,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 1, 1960.

Wooden asked if he wouldn’t mind getting together in the off-season so they could talk about defense: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 401.

Forrest Twogood accidentally elbowed Wooden in the face: “Players, Fans Riot at SC-UCLA Game,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 6, 1960.

16. WALT

Interviews: Bob Archer, Dick Banton, John Berberich, Bob Berry, Pete Blackman, Gary Cunningham, Chuck Darrow, Jerry Evans, Gail Goodrich, Larry Gower, John Green, Jerry Norman, Doug Sale, Fred Slaughter, Roland Underhill, Dave Waxman

he would be “one of the best basketball players UCLA has ever had”: “Lawson Destined for Cage Stardom,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 24, 1960.

“He never quite fit in”: Johnson,
John Wooden Pyramid of Success
, p. 326.

“I once loved to play”:
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 24, 1960.

“I did not work with the parents that much”: Dunphy,
John R. Wooden
, p. 144.

“Well, reluctantly”: Ibid.

Lawson admitted before a New York grand jury that he had been approached by professional gamblers: “UCLA Cager Lawson Admits Bribe Offer, Quits School,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 30, 1961.

“I’ve never had a boy who resented instruction and correction as much as Lawson did”: Chapin and Prugh,
Wizard of Westwood
, p. 98.

“I would explain to my players that we’re like a machine”: Dunphy,
John R. Wooden
, p. 69.

“Little things add up, and they become big things”: Wooden interview with ESPN, Mar. 12, 1998.

“It disgusts me to see all these cartoons of raving maniac coaches”: Joe Jares notes of Wooden lecture at Kutsher’s Country Club, June 26, 1967.

“The one word that my players will hear from me more than any other in practice is
balance
”: Wooden interview with Jares.

“A three and one look off-balance, and I like balance”: Joe Jares notes.

“I wanted the business-like approach”: Dunphy,
John R. Wooden
, p. 123.

“I never want my players to feel that winning a basketball game was any great accomplishment”: Ibid., p. 128.

“John’s not the flippant type”: Reporter’s file for
Sports Illustrated
by George Ferguson, Aug. 1, 1968.

“I love to play those teams that just came back from Hawaii”: Wooden interview with Jares.

“If I see a boy giving up the baseline [on defense], I take him out for the rest of the half”: Joe Jares notes of Wooden lecture at Kutsher’s Country Club, June 26, 1967.

“They learn that I stick by my demands”:
Sports Illustrated
, Mar. 19, 1962.

“handled the team like a machine”: “UCLA Cager Raps Wooden, Quits to Play for San Diego St.,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 27, 1973.