Q&A with John Wooden

At 92 the Wizard of Westwood -- who won 10 national titles at UCLA -- still has strong opinions on the game. The famed coach is the author (along with Steve Jamison) of Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On And Off The Court.

UCLA coach John Wooden. Darron Cummings/AP

SI: Do fellow coaches ever call for your advice on how to incorporate the pyramid of success into their programs?

Wooden: Every year I send out more than 1,500 copies of the pyramid. Many go to high school coaches. They'll give it to their teams at the beginning of the year or after the season. It's also has been used in different sports. Somebody recently asked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about the pyramid, and he said he thought it was very corny when he first heard about it. But by the time he got out of UCLA he'd found out there was something to it. He never really realized it until some years after he was out of college. Well, that pleases me.

SI: Are you surprised that Kareem wants to pursue coaching as his avocation?

Wooden: I'm not at all surprised. What I am surprised about is that somebody hasn't hired him yet. He's very bright. He knows the game. At one time he was considered somewhat aloof and didn't have the best relationship with the media, but he has overcome that. And I think he'd be a tremendous draw, too.

SI: Was it painful to watch UCLA struggle this year?

Wooden: Of course it was. I want to see all our teams do well, not just our basketball team. I was there 27 years, you know. I like to see the Bruins doing well and when they're not, yes, I'm disappointed

SI: What kind of feedback have you received regarding your documentary that appeared recently on PBS?

Wooden: Well, I've gotten good feedback. Many people sent letters after watching it. Of course, the people with negative thoughts don't send letters, so all the ones I have are positive.

SI: Could you coach in today's environment, knowing that many of your best players might stay for only one or two seasons?

Wooden: I don't think I'd change a bit. I see no reason why I should. Youngsters are all the same. However, I know there's no progress without change, so I guess, in certain areas, I would change a little bit. I didn't coach when the 3-point goal was around and I never coached when the shot clock was around, so I know I'd have to make adjustments in my teaching. The main thing is getting along with the youngsters, and I'd like to think I can get along with anyone. I think I could coach today just as I did in my day.

SI: Do you ever wonder how you would have done coaching in the NBA?

Wooden: Well, I turned down several offers for a lot of money, a lot more money than I ever made. I wasn't interested.

SI: Have players become too individualistic or too selfish?

Wooden: I'm not a critical person and I don't like people who are overcritical, so I don't want to come off like I'm right and someone else is wrong, but I think the athleticism of basketball players today is just unbelievable. But as the players have become better individually, it seems to me that coaches maybe tend to let them go on their own. I don't think team play has progressed. I think it's gone the other way, but then again, maybe it has gone the other way because the individual athleticism makes it look like its gone the other way. I may be wrong, but it doesn't seem like there's good team play anymore.

SI: Which college coaches impress you?

Wooden: I will not single out coaches.

SI: Had you ever considered becoming an analyst for television?

Wooden: No, I don't think I'd be good at that. When I first retired I did color commentary for NBC and worked with Dick Enberg, but the network let me pick and choose the games I broadcasted. I could do a Kansas-Kansas State here or a Cal-Stanford if I wanted to, but after a couple of years they wanted me every weekend and I didn't want to travel every weekend.

SI: As someone who believes in lifelong education, what do you know now at 92 that you didn't know at 82?

Wooden: I know that I'm more knowledgeable at 92 then I was at 82. I hope I'm always learning.

SI: If you had allowed Kareem to score as much as he wanted, how many points could he have averaged at UCLA?

Wooden: Well, I think he could have averaged more than (Pete) Maravich did but our team would not have done nearly as well. We could have worked out an offense to make Kareem score that way, and I think he could have put up close to 50 points a game. But he wouldn't have wanted that. One time I told him we could cater the offense to him, and he said, "Coach, I wouldn't want that." I said, "If I had thought you would, I never would have even brought it up."

SI: If you had Bill Russell and Kareem at the same time, could you have played them together?

Wooden: Well, I think so. It would be somewhat different and I know I would have certainly changed defensively, but offensively it would not have been problem.

SI: What do you remember about the famous win againt Houston in 1968?

Wooden: That game and the way we played as a team gave me about as much pleasure as any victory. We seldom had a great individual scorer. I never wanted that. I never wanted a scorer to lead the nation. I believe there has only been one time in the NCAA when an individual player led the nation in scoring and played on a national championship team.

SI: Can a program recruit high-quality student-athletes, stay clean and still win?

Wooden: Absolutely, but I'm worried a little bit about today. I've said, to some degree, we're changing the student-athlete and making it the athlete-student, and I think we're doing an injustice to the individuals. We should always remember that college is not there for athletics, but athletics are very important. It's an outlet and it's something that's needed, but if it served only the athletes, you ought to cut it out completely. It serves more than that. It serves the student body and in some cases the community.

SI: How many of today's players do you think know that you were the College Player of the Year at Purdue University in 1932?

Wooden: Well ... not much, I suspect. And that's OK.

SI: Did you have favorite maxim or aphorism as a coach?

Wooden: The quotes my players would say they heard more than others probably are "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail" and "Be quick but don't hurry."

SI: Do you like listening to games called by Bill Walton?

Wooden: I've always enjoyed Bill Walton. He's his own man. You've probably heard this story but one time he told me he wasn't going to get a haircut. He told me I didn't have the right to make him get a haircut. I said, "No, I don't, Bill. I just have the right to determine who is going to play -- and we're going to miss you."

--Richard Deitsch

Issue date: March 31, 2003

 

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