John Wooden coached the UCLA Bruins basketball team for 23 years, ten of those years ending with the NCAA championship. Wooden won his first title in 1964, then again in 1965. After a year out of the winner's circle, Wooden's team achieved seven consecutive national titles (1967-73). In 1975, "The Wizard of Westwood" (a nickname Wooden despised) won his last title.

Wooden finished his 23-year career with a.804 winning percentage, fourth all-time behind Jerry Tarkanian, Clair Bee, and Adolph Rupp. Included among his many accomplishments are an 88-game winning streak, 38 straight NCAA Tournament wins, and 19 conference championships. As a coach, as Curry Kirkpatrick noted in a 1998 Sport article, he was considered "the best who ever coached, any time, any sport."

Wooden coached some of the best college players of their time, including Lew Alcindor (who later would be known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Walton, Sidney Wicks, and Walt...