John Wooden had recently retired when Dan O’Connell got the opportunity to see the legendary UCLA basketball coach speak at a clinic in Boston around 1977.
And while the longtime Brewer school administrator and coach, who was guiding the Witches’ boys varsity basketball team at the time, brought home from that experience a variety of lessons, what struck him was the reverence the coaching fraternity held for the “Wizard of Westwood,” who died last Friday at age 99.
O’Connell recalled a moment in the hotel lobby when Wooden and North Carolina coach Dean Smith were sitting in nearby chairs, both reading.
“There was a chair between the two of them not being used so I thought, ‘This is my opportunity,’” O’Connell said.
He took his place between the two eventual Hall of Famers, and soon began chatting with Wooden, telling him how much he was looking forward to hearing him speak.
“I’m really happy to see you here,” Wooden replied. “It’s very important that high school coaches get a chance hear what we have to say and maybe get something out of it.”
Wooden soon left the area, leaving O’Connell and Smith.
Smith then asked O’Connell when Wooden would be speaking at the clinic, and O’Connell replied at 11 the next day.
“I’ll be there, and so will my staff,” Smith said. “If there’s an opportunity to hear ‘Coach’ speak, we all take advantage of it.”
Quite a show of respect from a coach who himself went on to win 879 games and two national titles, but typical of what O’Connell would witness.
When O’Connell eventually went back to his room, he ran into three more giants of the profession — Bob Knight, Al McGuire and Rick Majerus — at the elevator, and the topic again was Wooden.
And upon learning that Wooden would speak at 11 the next day, the uniform response was “we’ll all be there at 11.”
“It was amazing the amount of respect everyone had for coach Wooden,” O’Connell recalled.
And by 11 the next morning, everyone who said they were going to be there to hear Wooden speak was there.
“The whole place was packed,” said O’Connell, “and you could hear a pin drop. He had everyone in the palm of his hand.”
What followed was a presentation that featured plenty of inside basketball and plenty of advice applicable to basketball and beyond, no doubt including elements of Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success,” his personal guide toward achieving desired results in any endeavor.
“He looked at the big picture, but at the same time he was so detailed,” said O’Connell. “Everything he said, it all made sense, it all fit. It was something I’ll never forget.”
Indeed, O’Connell talks about that experience as if it was yesterday, and it took place more than three decades ago.
That’s the staying power of John Wooden, a man known not only for winning 10 NCAA championships in his final 12 years at UCLA, but a man known for a quiet demeanor and a powerful persona.
And words of wisdom:
“Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them.”
“Never mistake activity for achievement.”
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.”
There is much more where those came from, and the younger generations among us would do well to look John Wooden up and learn. A refresher course for the older guys wouldn’t hurt, either.
