Talking John Wooden and Illinois-Gonzaga in the '04 Wooden Tradition

Following last night’s discouraging Blackhawks’ loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals, I was saddened to read that legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had passed away from natural causes at the age of 99.

As someone who was not even alive when Wooden won his last championship in 1975 and promptly retired afterwards, I could not tell you much about Wooden the coach beyond biographies or television features on the Wizard of Westwood.

Personally, I am more familiar with Wooden off the court, including when he graced our Illini with his presence following the 2004 Wooden Tradition victory against Gonzaga.

Sure there are Wooden’s accomplishments in/around college basketball that have become familiar to most fans of the sport.

● Winning 10 National Championships at UCLA (including 7 in a row);

● Earning his first national championship in 1964 with no player taller than 6’5’’ but a 2-2-1 defense that bewildered opponents;

● Establishing a dynasty at UCLA with some of the greatest centers to ever play the game, including Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton;

● Going 88 games without a loss; and

● Having four 30-0 teams.

I remember Wooden more as:

● A sagacious, great-grandfatherly figure/caretaker of the game of basketball, visible at nearly every home UCLA game and many Final Fours;

● A humble and gracious man who never forgot his Midwestern roots in basketball-crazed Indiana;

● A living legend known for his Pyramid of Success and Woodenisms (“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”; “Be quick – but don’t hurry”; “Focus on effort, not winning”); and

● A devoted husband who remained true to his wife long after her death in 1985.

To me, Wooden was a steady symbol of simplicity at a time when the game and world around him was constantly becoming more complicated.

Wooden seemingly should have never built a dynasty in Los Angeles of all places, especially in the turbulent sixties and seventies.

Never was a match so wrong yet so right.

Wooden was successful because he remained true to himself and what he believed in.

This meant being a taskmaster in practice, teaching his players how to put on their socks before educating them in the game; mandating that his players be clean shaven at all times; and demanding excellence in execution and lifestyle.

If this meant possibly losing a hippie like Bill Walton, so be it.

Wooden was a believer in playing the game a certain way, one in which the team was emphasized ahead of everything else.

While Wooden certainly had his fair share of superstars, no one was bigger than UCLA basketball.

In a few cases, this left him with some players who were embittered with how Wooden used them but would ultimately express their admiration for the man years later.

Wooden would say that he wasn’t the greatest strategic coach around, but ultimately his teams were so successful because he felt that there was never an end to the powers of repetition and preparation.

His UCLA players would often talk about how playing the games were a relief, a walk in the park compared to practices with Wooden.

On the sidelines Wooden was most often calm with a rolled up program in his hand, believing that there was nothing to worry about as long as his team was prepared (though he would occasionally ride some refs under his breath with the words “Goodness gracious sakes alive).

Wooden even talked about how there was more to life than just basketball.

In today’s day and age, John Wooden probably would not have lasted very long.

Players would have scoffed at his limitations of individuality (for God’s sake, Wooden would shriek when his great grandchildren would dribble the ball around the back).

The boosters would have run Wooden out of town as he didn’t win his first title until he was 53 years old, 16 years into his tenure at UCLA.

He would have come off as a hayseed and square on the sidelines, not someone with the guile or slicks to work the game within the game (i.e. the officiating).

Yet for a man who seemingly could have become an anachronism as college basketball drastically changed in the 35 years since he last coached a game, Wooden was and will always remain relevant.

Even watching on television, one could detect an aura to his presence at college basketball games.

Never was this so apparent to me than in the 2004 Wooden Tradition, when the Illini played Gonzaga at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

After ripping through the #24 ranked Bulldogs, leading by 31 points at halftime, the Illini were presented with the Wooden Tradition trophy by none other than Wooden.

Flanked between athletes in the prime of their college playing years, the diminutive Wooden could not have looked more out of place but been anywhere else.

On that day Wooden reaped rare praise for the exploits of the Illini, noting along the lines that he had not seen such a solid and selfless performance from a team in a long time.

Wooden congratulated the efforts of players like Luther Head, Dee Brown and Deron Williams, and told Bruce Weber that he had himself quite a fine team.

Despite the age gap, the Illini players soaked up Wooden’s respect for them, with Brown – the face of Illinois basketball – even genuinely hugging the old man.

For kids in their late teens and early twenties, the Illini basketball players sensed that they were a part of something unique that day with Wooden, and a photo of the team and legendary coach would eventually be taken.

I guess that’s what it was about John Wooden.

Even though today’s players and fans (including me) never had the chance to watch Wooden on the sidelines, it was not too hard to understand that this man was something special, well beyond his championship history.

In that regard, it’s certainly sad to think that Wooden won’t ever be around another college basketball game.

John Wooden (1910-2010)

It’s easy to see why Wooden was impressed with Illinois’ performance against Gonzaga during the 2004 Wooden tradition.

According to the Wooden Tradition Web site, the Illini set team records for points (89), assists (24), steals (13), and three-point field goals (14).

Several Illini also set or tied individual records, including Luther Head for assists (9) and Deron Williams for made three-point field goals (5), which tied Louisville’s Taquan Dean and Duke’s J.J. Redick.

Here is the box score and play-by-play of the 2004-2005 Illinois-Gonzaga contest and some game stories as well.

● No. 5 Illinois Routs Gonzaga, Eyes Matchup vs. Wake

● Illinois’ Trio of Guards Cuts through Gonzaga Defense

● 2004-2005 Illini Make First Statement

● No. 5 Illinois Tops No. 24 Gonzaga

And some video as well:

Also interesting is a 2010 Coaching Spotlight from Andy Katz, who details Weber and John Wooden’s relationship while the Illini coach was cutting his teeth in the profession.

Wooden certainly had his ties to the Big Ten.

● He was an All-American basketball player at Purdue.

● He likely would have become the Head Coach at Minnesota rather than UCLA, had it not been for a snow storm that delayed the Golden Gophers’ offer by an hour.

Who knows how college basketball history would have changed had Wooden ended up at Minnesota?

In the wake of Wooden’s death, there have been plenty of touching articles about his greatness.

Here are some of the pieces that I enjoyed.

● Wooden’s Legacy That of An Innovator

● Enberg Remembers Legendary Wooden

● Wizard’s Influence Went Beyond Basketball

● How 1964 UCLA Bruins Made John Wooden

● John Wooden Remembered as Great Man

● John Wooden Remained More Than Anything A Man of Constancy

● Inspirational John Wooden Was Always Defined by His Poetry

● Wooden’s Wizardry Was for the Ages

● Remembering John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood