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Saturday, June 5, 2010 – Daily News – 3B Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden dies LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Wooden, college basketball’s gentlemanly Wizard of Westwood who built one of the greatest dynasties in all of sports at UCLA and became one of the most revered coaches ever, has died. He was 99. The university said Wooden died Friday night of natural causes at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized since May 26. Jim Wooden and Nancy Muehlhausen issued a state- ment shortly after their father died, saying, ‘‘He has been, and always will be, the guid- ing light for our family. ‘‘The love, guidance and support he has given us will never be forgotten. Our peace of mind at this time is knowing that he has gone to be with our mother, whom he has continued to love and cherish.’’ They thanked well-wish- ers for their thoughts and prayers and asked for priva- cy. With his signature rolled- up game program in hand, Wooden led the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships, including an unmatched streak of seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. Over 27 years, he won 620 games, includ- ing 88 straight during one historic stretch, and coached many of the game’s greatest players such as Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor — later known as Kareem Abdul- Jabbar. ‘‘It’s kind of hard to talk about Coach Wooden sim- ply, because he was a com- plex man. But he taught in a very simple way. He just used sports as a means to teach us how to apply our- selves to any situation,’’ Abdul-Jabbar said in a state- ment released through UCLA. ‘‘He set quite an example. He was more like a parent than a coach. He really was a very selfless and giving human being, but he was a disciplinarian. We learned all about those aspects of life that most kids want to skip over. He wouldn’t let us do that.’’ Wooden is the only per- son to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. ‘‘He was always the boss. He always knew what to say,’’ former UCLA star Jamaal Wilkes told the Associated Press. ‘‘Even in the heyday of winning and losing, you could almost dis- cuss anything with him. He always had that composure and wit about him. He could connect with all kind of peo- ple and situations and always be in control of him- self and seemingly of the sit- uation.’’ Walton and Wilkes were among former players who visited Wooden in the hospi- tal this week. Wilkes came twice and said Wooden rec- ognized him and that the coach’s mind was ‘‘sharp as a tack’’ until the end although his body was ‘‘very, very frail.’’ Wilkes said he recognized what he called ‘‘that little glint’’ in Wooden’s pale blue eyes. He was in the room with Wood- en’s son when Wooden asked to be shaved. ‘‘His son made the com- ment that when he got The Back Packs ARE COMING The Back Packs ARE COMING Watch for them at local businesses shaved he was getting ready to see Nellie,’’ Wilkes said, referring to Wooden’s late wife. During his second visit Wednesday night, Wilkes asked Wooden if he recog- nized him. ‘‘His glasses fogged up and he had to clean his glass- es,’’ Wilkes said. ‘‘He looked at me and said, ’I remember you, now go sit down.’’’ St. John’s coach Steve Lavin followed a similar career path as Wooden, coaching seven years at UCLA after serving as an assistant at Purdue. ‘‘Even though we antici- pated this day, the finality still strikes with a force equal to a ton of bricks,’’ Lavin said. ‘‘There was the com- mon affinity we shared for Purdue and UCLA and that forged a unique bond. I turned to him for perspective at every critical juncture over the past 20 years. Ninety- nine years of goodness and now he’s back with Nell.’’ Wooden was a ground- breaking trendsetter who demanded his players be in great condition so they could play an up-tempo style not well-known on the West Coast at the time. But his legacy extended well beyond that. He was the master of the simple one- or two-sen- tence homily, instructive lit- tle messages best presented in his famous ‘‘Pyramid of Success,’’ which remains must-read material, not only for fellow coaches but for anyone in a leadership posi- tion in American business. He taught the team game and had only three hard-and- fast rules — no profanity, tardiness or criticizing fellow teammates. Layered beneath that seeming simplicity, though, were a slew of life lessons — primers on every- thing from how to put on your socks correctly to how to maintain poise: ‘‘Not being thrown off stride in how you behave or what you believe because of outside events.’’ What’s on TV? ✓ Check out ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE select TV Free - Online - 24/7 Broadcast/Cable/Satellite Listings-Sports-Movies & More! redbluffdailynews.com