John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010)

John Wooden was an American basketball player and coach.  Nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood” he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row— as head coach at UCLA an unprecedented feat.Within this period his teams won a record 88 consecutive games.   He was named national coach of the year six times.

As a player, Wooden was the first to be named basketball All-American three times and he won a national championship at Purdue. Wooden was named a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player inducted in 1961 and as a coach in 1973, the first person ever enshrined in both categories. Only Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman have since had the same honor.

He was one of the most revered coaches and beloved by his former players among them Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden was renowned for his short, simple inspirational messages to his players, including his “Pyramid of Success.”  These often were directed at how to be a success in life as well as in basketball.   Here are some of his quotes I hope you find them a source of inspiration as I have.

• Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
  
• Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
  
• Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
  
• Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself being especially free of admirers then.
  
• It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
  
• If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over

•  Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. 
• Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters. 
• Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.