Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

In the Preface to Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court, co-author and collaborator Steve Jamison lists John Wooden’s unparalleled accomplishments that make him widely considered the greatest collegiate coach in American sports history. In addition to being a three-time All-American basketball player himself at Purdue University, Wooden guided the UCLA Bruins to a record 10 NCAA titles over his 27 years at the university. Wooden’s teams won the NCAA Tournament 10 times over a 12-year period from 1964-75, won a total of 15 Pac-12 Conference titles, and compiled a career winning percentage of 80%. His Bruins also hold the all-time NCAA record of 88 consecutive wins, a streak spanning across four seasons. Jamison argues that “the magnitude of [Wooden’s] achievements in basketball is nearly beyond comprehension” (xxx).

Jamison explains that specifics about basketball and Wooden’s biography had little to do with how the book came about. Rather, Wooden’s “personal philosophy of achievement, success, and excellence has much greater application to living one’s life than to playing or coaching basketball” (xxx-xxxi). Upon contacting Wooden with his book idea, Jamison explained that it would not take the form of a conventional