October
14, 1910: Born in Martinsville, IN
1932:
Named College Basketball "Player of the Year" while at Purdue
1932: Marries Nell, his high school sweetheart
1946-'47: After serving in U.S. Navy during World War
II, appointed athletic director and basketball and baseball
coach at Indiana Teachers College (now Indiana State)
1948: Hired as UCLA basketball coach; Bruins win Pacific
Coast Conference Southern Division in his first year
1950: Leads UCLA to team's first NCAA tournament
1956: UCLA completes a perfect league season (16-0),
the first of eight under Wooden's leadership
1960: Inducted into the National Basketball Hall of
Fame as a player
1962: UCLA reaches NCAA Final Four for the first time
1964: Defeats Duke to win first NCAA title; season
finishes with unbeaten 30-0 record
1964: Named NCAA College Basketball "Coach of the Year."
He receives the honor again in 1967, '69-'70 and '72-'73
1965: Defeats Michigan to win second NCAA title
1967: Wins third NCAA title, defeating Dayton
1968: In first nationally televised college basketball
game, UCLA loses to Houston
1968: UCLA becomes first school to twice win back-to-back
NCAA titles, defeating North Carolina for its fourth national
championship
1969: Defeats Purdue to win fifth NCAA title, becoming
first school to win three straight championships
1970: Bruins win sixth NCAA title, team's fourth in
a row, defeating Jacksonville
1971: NCAA record-setting 88-game winning streak begins
1971: Defeating Villanova, Bruins win seventh NCAA
title, the fifth straight
1972: Wooden inducted into the National Basketball
Hall of Fame as a coach, becoming the first person inducted
in more than one category
1972: UCLA, with 30-0 record, wins eighth NCAA title,
its sixth straight, defeating Florida State
1973: UCLA breaks consecutive-win record with 61st
straight victory
1973: Bruins defeat Memphis State to win ninth NCAA
championship-the team's seventh straight-becoming the first
school to win back-to-back NCAA titles with perfect 30-0 record
1973: Named Sports Illustrated's "Sports' Man of the
Year"
1974: 88-game winning streak ends with loss to Notre
Dame
1974: Wooden named California "Grandfather of the Year"
by National Father's Day Committee
March 29, 1975: Wooden announces his retirement after
UCLA defeats Louisville in NCAA semifinal
March 31, 1975: In his last game, UCLA beats Kentucky
to win 10th NCAA title in 12 years. In his final nine years
as coach, Wooden compiles 259-12 record and wins eight NCAA
championships
1977: First John Wooden Award, given to the nation's
best player, goes to UCLA senior forward Marques Johnson
1985: Wooden becomes first sports figure to receive
the Bellarmine Medal of Excellence; other recipients have
included Mother Teresa and Walter Cronkite
1985: After 53 years of marriage, wife Nell dies
1994: Wooden named to Sports Illustrated's "40 for
the Ages"
1995: Wooden presented Reagan Distinguished American
Award
1999: Wooden named by ESPN as the Greatest Coach of
the 20th Century
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