It was March 1964. Lyndon B. Johnson was just in his fourth month as our nation's 36th President after being sworn in as Commander-in-Chief following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
The Final Four, nothing like the Final Four you saw two months ago, was held in cozy Municipal Auditorium, downtown Kansas City, Mo.
Only 16 teams were invited to the NCAA Tournament in '64. You had to win your regular-season conference championship to get an NCAA invite back then. Kansas State's Wildcats won the Big Eight Conference with a 12-2 conference log.
Coach Tex Winter's Wildcats beat Texas Western (now known as Texas-El Paso) and fifth-ranked Wichita State to reach the Muni. Joining the Cats that year were Michigan, Duke and UCLA, coached by 54-year-old John Wooden, whose death Friday of natural causes was being compared to that of the death of a President and for good reason.
Two-time Big Eight selection Willie Murrell averaged 25 points per game during the Wildcat run, which ended in a 90-82 loss to Wooden's Bruins in the national semis.
The irony to this story? K-State hasn't been in the Final Four since. For UCLA, though, it was just the beginning of The Dynasty. Ten national championships beginning in 1964 and resuming in '65, '67-73 and '75.
Wooden's signature was his rolled-up program in his hand, kneeling to players in his huddle during a timeout. He won an uncanny 620 games in 27 years, including 88 straight wins in one stretch. Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, were perhaps two of the greatest to play for The Wizard of Westwood.
To Coach Wooden, there were three rules he preached: no profanity, no tardiness and no criticizing their teammates.
"What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player," was one of his most important messages to his players.
"It's kind of hard to talk about coach Wooden simply, because he was a complex man," Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement released through UCLA. "But he taught in a very simple way. He just used sports as a means to teach us how to apply ourselves to any situation."
He was born Oct. 14, 1910 on a farm near Martinsville, Ind. Perhaps the original Field of Dreams was built here, as Wooden's dad built a baseball diamond among his wheat, corn and alfalfa. While baseball was his favorite sport, he and his brother, Maurice would find an occasional ball and play basketball in a hoop nailed to the barn's hayloft.
He went on to play collegiately at Purdue, where he was the college player of the year his senior year when the Boilermakers won the national championship in 1932.
UCLA came calling in 1949. He immediately put his stamp on the Bruin program.
He lived by advice from his dad. "Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books - especially the Bible - build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day."
There were more.
"Learn as if you were to live forever, live as if you were to die tomorrow."
"Don't give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you."
It was at UCLA where the players learned about Wooden's "Pyramid of Success", a chart he used to inspire his players and sum up his code for life. The cornerstones were Industriousness and Enthusiasm. The building blocks featured Faith, Patience, Loyalty and Self-Control. At the top of the Pyramid was Competitive Greatness.
Players also learned at the first practice how to correctly put on their socks and playing shoes. No long hair was allowed by Wooden and he demanded his boys to shave their facial hair.
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are," Wooden would tell his players.
Asked in a 2008 interview to The Associated Press the secret to his long life, Wooden said: "Not being afraid of death and having peace within yourself. All of life is peaks and valleys. Don't let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low."
Then asked what he would like God to say when he arrived at the Pearly Gates, he said: "Well done."
Well done indeed, Coach! Thank you and may you enjoy the fruits of your labor at that great Pauley Pavillion in the Sky!
The Final Four, nothing like the Final Four you saw two months ago, was held in cozy Municipal Auditorium, downtown Kansas City, Mo.
Only 16 teams were invited to the NCAA Tournament in '64. You had to win your regular-season conference championship to get an NCAA invite back then. Kansas State's Wildcats won the Big Eight Conference with a 12-2 conference log.
Coach Tex Winter's Wildcats beat Texas Western (now known as Texas-El Paso) and fifth-ranked Wichita State to reach the Muni. Joining the Cats that year were Michigan, Duke and UCLA, coached by 54-year-old John Wooden, whose death Friday of natural causes was being compared to that of the death of a President and for good reason.
Two-time Big Eight selection Willie Murrell averaged 25 points per game during the Wildcat run, which ended in a 90-82 loss to Wooden's Bruins in the national semis.
The irony to this story? K-State hasn't been in the Final Four since. For UCLA, though, it was just the beginning of The Dynasty. Ten national championships beginning in 1964 and resuming in '65, '67-73 and '75.
Wooden's signature was his rolled-up program in his hand, kneeling to players in his huddle during a timeout. He won an uncanny 620 games in 27 years, including 88 straight wins in one stretch. Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, were perhaps two of the greatest to play for The Wizard of Westwood.
To Coach Wooden, there were three rules he preached: no profanity, no tardiness and no criticizing their teammates.
"What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player," was one of his most important messages to his players.
"It's kind of hard to talk about coach Wooden simply, because he was a complex man," Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement released through UCLA. "But he taught in a very simple way. He just used sports as a means to teach us how to apply ourselves to any situation."
He was born Oct. 14, 1910 on a farm near Martinsville, Ind. Perhaps the original Field of Dreams was built here, as Wooden's dad built a baseball diamond among his wheat, corn and alfalfa. While baseball was his favorite sport, he and his brother, Maurice would find an occasional ball and play basketball in a hoop nailed to the barn's hayloft.
He went on to play collegiately at Purdue, where he was the college player of the year his senior year when the Boilermakers won the national championship in 1932.
UCLA came calling in 1949. He immediately put his stamp on the Bruin program.
He lived by advice from his dad. "Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books - especially the Bible - build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day."
There were more.
"Learn as if you were to live forever, live as if you were to die tomorrow."
"Don't give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you."
It was at UCLA where the players learned about Wooden's "Pyramid of Success", a chart he used to inspire his players and sum up his code for life. The cornerstones were Industriousness and Enthusiasm. The building blocks featured Faith, Patience, Loyalty and Self-Control. At the top of the Pyramid was Competitive Greatness.
Players also learned at the first practice how to correctly put on their socks and playing shoes. No long hair was allowed by Wooden and he demanded his boys to shave their facial hair.
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are," Wooden would tell his players.
Asked in a 2008 interview to The Associated Press the secret to his long life, Wooden said: "Not being afraid of death and having peace within yourself. All of life is peaks and valleys. Don't let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low."
Then asked what he would like God to say when he arrived at the Pearly Gates, he said: "Well done."
Well done indeed, Coach! Thank you and may you enjoy the fruits of your labor at that great Pauley Pavillion in the Sky!
No comments:
Post a Comment