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John Wooden is Born
John Wooden was born on October 14th, 1910 as the third of six children of Joshua and Roxie. His father was a rural mail carrier, and he took care of the water and electricty abundant farm, which was eventually lost shortly after the family moving to Indiana. -
John Wooden's Amazing Life
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The Life of John Wooden
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Education
After his family moved to the town of Martinsville when he was 14, he led the high school team to the state championship finals for three consecutive years, winning the tournament in 1927. He was a three time All-State. John Wooden attended the University of Purdue from 1929-1932, and was going to major in engineering, but ended up switching to English. He also played basketball at Purdue, winning three consequtive all-american awards and he lead Purdue to a national championship. -
Marital Status/Children
Wooden met his future wife Nellie, at a carnival in July of 1926. They married in a small ceremony in Indianapolis in August 1932 and afterward they attended a concert together afterwards to celebrate. John and his wife his wife had a son, James, and a daughter Nancy. Nellie died on March 21, 1985 from cancer. Wooden remained devoted to Nellie until his own death decades after hers. He kept to a monthly ritual on the 21st of every month, when he would visit her grave. -
Successes and Failures in Before UCLA
Failures
Wooden coached two years at Dayton High School in Dayton, Kentucky. His first year at Dayton marked the only time he had a losing record (6–11) as a coach
Successes
Wooden then coached at Indiana State Teacher's College from 1946 to 1948. In addition to his duties as basketball coach, Wooden also coached baseball and served as athletic director, -
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John Wooden's UCLA Career
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Influences, Prior, and Present/Motivators
John Wooden, one of the best motivator ever, was ultimately influenced and motivated by his wife Nellie. Whatever John wanted to do in his life, his wife was right there at his side supporting him and pushing him towards that goal. Like I said before, John Wooden was probably the best motivational speaker ever. Some of his famous quotes are... "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be." and another one is "Ability is a poor man's wealth." -
Success at UCLA
In the span of 1948-1975 as UCLA's head basketball coach, John Wooden had every bit of success. He lead the team to
-Ten NCAA mens basketball championships
-Seven consequtive NCAA championships from 1967-73
-Most appearances in the final four by anyone at 16
-88 straight wins through 3 seasons
-38 straight victories in NCAA tournament play
-Eight perfect PAC10 conference seasons -
Net Worth
During John Woodens 27 year tenure at UCLA, he raised the scholarship amount/pofficiency for the college, even winning an award for it. He raised the overall net worth of the college by an unprecedented amount. -
The Most Inspirational, Dies at 99
On May 26, 2010, Wooden was admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after suffering from dehydration and remained hospitalized there until his death the following week. He died of natural causes on June 4, 2010, 4 months and 10 days shy of his 100th birthday. Although, he died a few years ago, he still remains one of the most famous, inspirational coaches of all-time. -
Interest Facts about The Coach
- John Wooden was actually offered a contract by the Boston Celtics after he was finished with college. But, John declined because he wanted to focus on his relationship with Nellie, and become an English teacher.
- John Wooden's name at UCLA was the "Wizard at Westwood"
- John Wooden was replaced by Gen Bartow after he retired.
- Coach Wooden taught all his players the "Pyramid of Success"
- John Wooden made Pauvley Povilion the famous stadium that it is today.
