In NCAA College Basketball, John Wooden, who died June 4 at the age of 99, was an icon.
Indiana, as a young boy his basketball idols were Fuzzy Vandivier and Franklin Wonder Five, was born in 1910 in the town of Hall. His family moved to a town called Martinsville, when he was 14 and 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 selection.

At a carnival in July 1926, Wooden met his future wife, Nell Riley. In 1932, they got married and to celebrate, they went to a Mills Brothers concert. John and his wife had a son named James Hugh Wooden, and a daughter named Nancy Anne Muehlhausen.

Unfortunately, on March 21st, 1985, his wife Nell died from cancer. Even after her death, Wooden remained faithful to his wife. On the 21st of every month, he visits her grave.
At Dayton High School in Kentucky, Wooden began coaching. The only year where he would have a losing record would be in his first year coaching. He ended the season with 6 wins and 11 losses. Wooden went back to Indiana to coach at South Bend Central High School, after Dayton. He ended his high school coaching career at 218 wins and 42 losses. He had to enter the WWII and delay his coaching career.

At Indiana Teacher’s College also knows as Indiana State, where he also served as the Athletic Director, after World War II. Wooden’s basketball team won the Indiana Collegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City, in 1947. Wooden declined the offer due to the policies of banning African American players. Wooden found it to be offensive to go into a team tournament and leave out a member of his team as he had an African American player on his team. In 1948, Wooden led his team to the NAIB tournament finals again. Due to the policies of banning African American Players had changed, Wooden now accepted the bid. However, Indiana State lost to Louisville in the finals. The only championship game a Wooden-coached team ever lost was this one. John Wooden was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame on February 3, 1984.

From 1948 to 1975, Wooden then Coached UCLA. He would go on to win 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons and a total of 620 in 27 seasons during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. He also led his UCLA team to the longest winning streak of 88 wins in a row, a record which has yet to be broken.

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