Advertisement

Wooden remembered by U.S. World Cup captain

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It didn’t take long for news of John Wooden’s death Friday at the age of 99 to reach South Africa, where U.S. World Cup team member Carlos Bocanegra, a former UCLA player, reflected on his brushes with the legendary Bruins basketball coach.

‘I did get to meet him when I was at school there,’ said Bocanegra, who wore the captain’s arm band in a 3-1 U.S. win over Australia in the team’s final Cup warmup Saturday. ‘A lot of people called him the greatest coach ever. It was a sad loss.

Advertisement

‘Walking around UCLA, he had kind of an aura when he’d be on campus and come back to visit. I think a lot of people will be saddened.’

-- Kevin Baxter in Johannesburg

Advertisement