Jim Murray: John Wooden Is the Best Coach in the History of College Basketball

USC stalls UCLA, 46-44, the Bruins’ first defeat at Pauley Pavilion.

March 9, 1969: Sports columnist Jim Murray calls John Wooden “the best basketball coach in the history of the collegiate game -- or maybe the game, period. He wins NCAA championships with teams that fit comfortably in Volkswagens. He never needed a team that could walk to Catalina without getting its hair wet.”

Comments

[MichaelRyerson]

Coach Wooden rightly has been in our thoughts these last few days. It would be hard to accurately estimate what he has meant to us all, basketball players, fellow coaches or just plain folks. But it is also nice to be reminded what a rare talent Jim Murray was and how much we looked forward to finding his column every moring.