In honor of the annual John R. Wooden Classic being played tonight, and the official launch of the Original Retro Brand John Wooden Collection, lifelong basketball and Original Retro Brand fanatic Steve Hufford has some very personal insight to reveal when it comes to the Coach…..

The 7 year old author in the middle with Coach Wooden on the far right.

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

“Before you can be a good leader, you must learn to be a good follower.”

“Be more interested in finding the best way, not just in having it your way.”

“Success is not something that others can give to you.”

“Discipline yourself and others won’t have to.”

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can.”

“It starts with hard work and enthusiasm.  There is no trick, no easy way to achieve competitive greatness and success – in basketball or in life.”

“Don’t try to be better than someone else, but never cease trying to be the best you can be.”

Coach Wooden’s wisdom is good for all eras.  That’s why I love the new “John Wooden Collection” that Original Retro Brand has rolled out.

You just can’t have enough of the coach’s aphorisms floating around out there.  Nor can you have enough tributes for this great coach and gentleman, who passed away at the age of 99 in 2010.

I had the good fortune to meet him twice.  First, when I was seven years old (see picture above), I had my picture taken with him at a sports camp at Bridgewater College in Virginia.  You’ll likely laugh at this, but I was more interested in getting to know the coach at the far left, Bucky Waters (then the head man at my dad’s alma mater, WVU), than Coach Wooden.  As absurd as that sounds, you should cut me some slack; though he had won a couple of national titles by the time that picture was taken, he hadn’t yet reached icon status.

Another UCLA legend

I didn’t meet Coach Wooden again in 1970, but I was an eyewitness at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland, when his powder-blue clad UCLA Bruins beat Jacksonville University (whose legion of fans wore green and gold buttons loudly touting “JU can do”) in the NCAA final.  My dad had purchased floor-level seats for that one (is that a great dad or what?).  After the game I was able to walk onto the court and stand between the Bruins’ stars, Curtis Rowe and Sidney Wicks, as they were interviewed (on the radio).  In the picture to the left, Sidney Wicks sports a championship net and his Most Outstanding Player award; I was likely somewhere lurking in the background, trying to get a little bit of championship mojo to rub off on me.  By the time the tournament was over, I had set aside my Chuck Taylors in favor of Adidas Superstars with three powder-blue stripes, and I also began perfecting my Sidney Wicks glare.

The years passed.  My passion for basketball did not abate (and still hasn’t).  I was a decent high school player.  Sadly, not only did UCLA not come calling, but neither did Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Indiana or any of the other traditional powers.  Come to think of it, none of the non-traditional non-powers took an interest in me, either.

And so my basketball “career” ended after high school.   I went on to become a lawyer and investment banker.  For years I thought to myself, “I should find a way to get that picture autographed by Coach Wooden.”  Eventually, I hatched a plan.  Coach Wooden reportedly had breakfast every day at a tiny diner in Encino called Vip’s Cafe.  It was 2009 and I had an upcoming trip to LA.  I decided to build an early morning visit to Vip’s into my schedule, taking my picture with me.

Steve today, with his prized photo.

I got there at 7am.  It turns out that the Coach didn’t typically arrive until about 9am.  So I had plenty of time to get to know the waitress, who advised me in no uncertain terms, that “YOU MAY NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, REQUEST AN AUTOGRAPH.” Ok, ok, I get that.  I could just meet him and maybe shake his hand.  Got it.

Indeed, the Coach rolled in (literally, via wheelchair) at about 9am.  I got nervous.  After a few minutes, the waitress invited me over to his table where he sat with a caretaker and a couple of guys who had also stalked him and professed to ‘know him’ (though I was pretty skeptical of that claim, even more so after I saw them sitting at his table).  Tentatively approaching his table, I pulled out my picture and asked, “Coach, do you remember any of the people in this picture?”  At this point, he was about a year shy of passing away.  With a confused look on his face, he identified himself, but none of the others.  I suddenly felt bad for asking him the question.  I told him the boy in the picture was me, and that it had been an honor to meet him, then and now. Then I named the other coaches.  Even when prompted, he still had no recognition of the others.

We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then I shook his hand and left.  He obviously wasn’t all there by then, but given his accomplishments and the way he had lived his life, he was still a moral force.

A moral force – let those words sink in. We need a few more of those, don’t we?  I love the saying on one of these shirts, “What would Wooden do?” The top sports story of the year we just completed involved sad and tawdry events at one of the nation’s traditional football powers.  Pondering those events – who knew what, when did they know it and did they do enough to put a stop to it? – I found myself asking that question even before I saw the shirt.  What would Coach Wooden have done?  I’m guessing the right thing.  Doing the right thing was essential to his Pyramid of Success and the way he lived his life.  If we had a few more John Woodens in the coaching ranks – hey, forget that, if we had a few more John Woodens throughout all of our ranks – just maybe we wouldn’t face the same daunting moral, financial, political and other challenges that we have today.

So much for wishful thinking.  Here’s to you, Coach.  Thanks for the memories … and the wisdom.

Steve with his brand new Original Retro Brand JOHN WOODEN BASKETBALL CAMP shirt.

Steve Hufford currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his beautiful wife and three equally beautiful daughters.  I can vouch for this as I know Steve personally.  Having played several pickup games with Steve, I can also vouch that despite what he says about his basketball prowess, the man can still shoot the lights out!  Thanks for the great write up Steve and I know you’ll be watching the Classic tonight.

The Original Retro Brand exclusive UCLA John Wooden vintage t-shirt collection donates portions of sales to the Nell and John R. Wooden Scholarship Fund. The UCLA Wooden Collection by Original Retro Brand is being officially unveiled in conjunction with UCLA’s Wooden Classic game tonight at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

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