Former UCLA Coach John Wooden Dies at 99
John Wooden, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach, died on June 4, 2010. Wooden is known for winning ten NCAA championships as UCLA’s basketball coach over the span of 12 years.
Wooden began his coaching career at Kentucky and Indiana high schools. During this time, Wooden joined the Navy and fought in World War II for three years. After the war, Wooden coached basketball and served as the athletic director at Indiana State University. Wooden then began coaching the UCLA basketball team in 1948. The famed coach led the university’s basketball team to win 620 games over the span of 27 seasons. Ten NCAA titles accompanied the hundreds of wins during Wooden’s last 12 seasons as head basketball coach. During his coaching career, Wooden was offered coaching jobs with Perdue University, the University of Minnesota and the Los Angeles Lakers, but he remained loyal to UCLA.
Starting in 2006, Wooden suffered from various health conditions and was hospitalized on several occasions. He died of natural causes on Friday after being admitted into the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center on May 26 because of dehydration.
[photo: Congressman Brad Sherman]
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