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| A Year of Indiana History - 2016 |
John Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010)
Roxie Anna Rothrock Wooden birthed her son, John, at 460 North Jefferson Street in Martinsville, Indiana in the cottage in which she and her husband Joshua Hugh Wooden lived. The family would move to Hall, Indiana in 1914, to Monrovia in 1915 and to Centerville to a farm Roxie inherited from her father in 1917. John and his brothers played basketball during these years using a tomato basket nailed to a post in the barn. They used a ball the made from old rags to play their rag tag games. The family would return to Martinsville in 1925 when John was fifteen years old.
Martinsville High School
John attended Martinsville High School and joined the high school basketball team during a period when Martinsville dominated Hoosier high school hoops. The Martinsville gym was huge, seating 5200 people, 400 more than lived in the town. Wooden's coach at Martinsville was Glen Curtis, who had led Martinsville to one state championship already, in 1924. Wooden would soon play a staring role on the team. During Wooden's time on the team Martinsville would go 22 - 5 in 1925, 25 - 4 in 1926 and 26 - 3 in 1927. The 1927 team won the Indiana high school championship in 1927 and was runner up in 1926. Curtis, a successful coach, would compile a 383 - 143 record while coaching nineteen years at Martinsville. Wooden would meet his future wife, Nell Riley, while at Martinsville. The couple would marry upon Wooden's college graduation
Purdue
Wooden attended Purdue University in 1928, majoring first in civil engineering, and then switching to English. At Purdue, he joined the basketball team. Ward "Piggy" Lambert coached Purdue during the time Wooden played on the team. Wooden soon gained the reputation as a fearless player and would become captain of a team that would win two Big Ten Championships. Wooden would receive the award Player of the Year in 1932, the same year the NCAA voted Purdue the National Champion. Wooden graduated with a Big Ten medal for proficiency in scholarship.
High School Teacher and Coach
Wooden turned down an offer to play basketball for the Boston Celtics to take a position teaching and coaching at Dayton High School in Kentucky. In 1934, he moved to South Bend to teach and coach at South Bend Regional High.
World War II and College Coach
World War II broke out in 1941. Wooden enlisted in the United States Navy as a lieutenant. Upon his discharge in 1946, Wooden took a position as coach with Indiana State Teachers College, now Indiana State University. During his two-year tenure at Terre Haute, his teams would compile a 44-15 record and win two Indiana Collegiate Conference titles. Wooden would take the helm at one of college basketball's least desirable venues, UCLA, in 1948. He had received simultaneous offers from UCLA and the University of Minnesota. A snowstorm intervened, causing a delay in Minnesota's return call to his acceptance to the job. A deadline passed and Wooden accepted the offer to coach at UCLA. UCLA had no on-campus basketball arena. The team played the first three seasons in their small practice facility. After this, the team played at various high school gymnasiums for several years. Wooden found ways to win at the school and built UCLA's program into a powerhouse, compiling a 664-162 record during a twenty-nine year career. His teams won ten NCAA championships, with one unprecedented perfect season in 1964. Wooden became Coach of the Year six times and was the first person named to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.
A Year of Indiana History - 2016
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