Thoughts About Coach John Wooden

By Bruin Basketball Report

UCLA Bruin fans know tomorrow's John R. Wooden Classic is more than just a basketball game but it's about a man - Coach John Wooden - though Coach Wooden would prefer it was just about the basketball game.

I've had the fortunate opportunity to have two brief conversations with Coach Wooden. One enters into a convesation with Coach Wooden in starstruck awe but then leaves with the feeling that you had just encountered greatness. All this from a gentle, elderly man of now 95 years.

(BruinBasketballReport.com)

Below are some good wishes and thoughts from around the country today on Coach Wooden:

What Would Wooden Do? - “I get goose bumps just participating – it is a privilege and an honor,” Romar said. “He’s so gracious a man. You walk into the meeting with Coach, excited and ready to hear about this great basketball stuff. You leave thinking, ‘I was with one of the most gracious, humble human beings I have ever seen.’ ” News Tribune

Wooden Still Teaching After All These Years - Wooden. Is any name in sports more revered? Think of one. Try. I'll stick with a man who's more proud that eight of his players became ministers than of the 10 NCAA championship banners he helped hang in UCLA's gym. The man whose life lessons hang in all kinds of places, all kinds of minds. Tampa Tribune

A John Wooden ‘Tangent’ - Washington coach Lorenzo Romar is an unabashed John Wooden fan. He has so much admiration for Wooden that he warns, “If you bring up John Wooden, you run the risk of me going off on a tangent.” The News Tribune