Welcome back! In today’s story we’re talking about everyone’s favorite basketball legend, John Wooden.

Through the stories of John Wooden in his book, “They Call Me Coach”, we’re going to cover 3 key lessons you can learn from Coach Wooden: Placing your bets, Finding accountability partners, and Staying ready.

If you make it to Final Thoughts, we have a surprise for you, so stay tuned.

👋 Scottie

TODAY’S STORY
💥3 Lessons From John Wooden

Lesson #1: Place Your Bets

Before UCLA and John Wooden snagged their first NCAA Title in 1964, Wooden was already placing his bets on success back in January of 1963.

Pete Blackman, a former player of Wooden's, was stationed in Hawaii when Wooden sent Blackman an update on the team, concluding with his bold bet: “…With every starter coming back, Yes, Walt and Gail and Keith and Jack And Fred and Freddie and some more, We could be champs in sixty-four.”

Who knew you could manifest back in the 60’s?

Nowadays, teams have slogans that they chant like a mantra after practice, during timeouts, and at press conferences. It's all great for PR, but not every player or coach on the team truly buys into it. Except for the teams that win…of course.

Wooden's approach was different and worth a shot. Alongside that note to Blackman, he penned down his expectations for the team before the season even kicked off, sealed it in an envelope, and marked it for future reference. It was a bit like having a conversation with your future self, a coach's version of That’s So Raven if you will. It provided an honest and insightful perspective on the team, helped anticipate player development, and guided the coaching strategies for the season.

Gen Z coaches are shivering at the thought of taking pen to paper. But try it out, let’s see how your March Madness improvements and bets play out. And if you’re one of our corporate friends, hopefully you’re smart enough to make this applicable to yourself.

This is The John Wooden Version of New Years Resolutions.

Lesson #2: Find Accountability Partners

When John was graduating from grade school, his dad gifted him what would eventually turn out to be the guiding principles of his basketball philosophy and life:

1. Be true to yourself.

2. Make each day your masterpiece.

3. Help others.

4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

5. Make friendship a fine art.

6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.

7. Pray for guidance, count and give thanks for your blessings every day.

PAUSE: For all my researchers out there, you are NOT allowed to look up who actually came up with this infamous 7-point creed in the 30’s. For today, let’s just agree for the sake of a beautiful basketball father-son love story, it was Daddy Wooden himself.

If you’re interested in applying these principles to your team, friends, or just for some good ol’ personal development, here's a little playbook inspired by Wooden's creed that we've shared with our high school teams that we have worked with:

1. Each person selects a creed that they will own and uphold during the season or year.

2. Put pen to paper and jot down how you intend to live up to the creed's responsibilities, outlining the ways you'll hold your team, friends, or yourself accountable.

3. Establish weekly check-ins with your chosen circle to monitor each other's commitment to their respective creeds. Feel free to pick a communication format that suits your preferences—whether it's in-person conversations, a Slack channel, GroupMe, Heylo, or any other platform that keeps the conversation flowing.

4. During these check-ins, reflect on your week and discuss:

   • What did you do this week to uphold your creed?

   • Why did you find it challenging to uphold your creed?

If you’re lazy, write down the 7-point creed, take a photo with your iPhone and set it as your background. You now have a daily reminder staring at you in the face.

Lesson #3: Stay Ready

Throughout John Wooden's life, there's a variety of stories that we could mention to illustrate Lesson #3, staying ready. But for now, we’re going to talk about the full court press.

Most people associate Wooden with the development of the full-court press defense, but he's the first to acknowledge that it was his coach at Purdue, Coach Piggie Lambert, who birthed the full court press. What set both Lambert and Wooden's teams apart and made them stronger than their opponents, was their intense commitment to conditioning during practice. While they had different drills to maintain conditioning across the team, for example, Coach Lambert’s 5v5 versus Coach Wooden’s 3v3, they still achieved what they wanted.

Conditioning is what wins fourth quarters. Unless you’re Iowa, then Caitlin Clark will win the game for you in the fourth quarter.

Isn’t it pretty sweet that we can pinpoint the exact moment when the full-court press was officially conceived? 😏 (1930’s)

Yet, for those of us who've left our twenties behind, Wooden and Lambert's reverence for conditioning brings to mind the modern-day Jesse Itzler. Also known as Sara Blakely’s husband to others.

For the 2 people who know me that are reading this, they know I’ll take any excuse to bring up Jesse Itzler.

Jesse had a post awhile back that reminds me of Lesson 3. In his caption below he says, “Even when I have nothing on the books I always want to be able to say “Yes” if an opportunity comes up. That has allowed me to say “yes” to a lot of big things this summer with little to no planning…Never want to work back up from zero. That takes too much energy….and why give back all your hard work to be in the ready position!”

No further comments your honor. You get the point.

Final Thoughts

John Wooden is Basketball Jesus.

If you want a free copy of John Wooden’s book, They Call Me Coach, we’re giving away 3 FREE COPIES to the first 3 readers with 3 referrals by 5 PM EST on Friday, 1/12.

NEWS
👂️This Week’s Locker Room Drama

What’s been going on in the world of women’s college basketball recently? We’ve got you covered.

• Liz Kitley and Georgia Amoore are back on YouTube. If I’m an Assistant Coach, I’m watching these all day long. (YouTube)

• Rutgers signs Jordan’s first high school athlete to sign an NIL deal, Kiyomi McMiller (BVM Sports)

• Do you remember when NCAA President Charlie Baker shocked the world in December by proposing schools to directly negotiate NIL deals with athletes and establish annual trust funds of $30,000 per athlete? Discussions are beginning today (CBS)

MEDIA
🤳Video of The Week

Find the lie with Grambling WBB players

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