Ex-Wooden Assistant Reminisces About Coach

Were it not for Eddie Powell, a legend named John Wooden might have spent his entire coaching career at the University of Minnesota instead of UCLA.

"It was just a stroke of luck," Powell says, his memory obviously as sharp as Wooden's still is. "One phone call didn't come through, or everything would have been different."

Two days before the 12th John R. Wooden Classic at The Pond, it is fascinating to reminisce with this lifelong friend of Wooden's who really did alter the landscape of college basketball. O.C Register