Feb. 8, 2010
THE JOHN WOODEN ACADEMY: YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN By Andy Hill
Since UCLA was kind enough to give me a full athletic scholarship during my four years as an undergraduate student (1968-72), it is hard for me to say "no" when someone from school calls and asks me to share some of my experiences playing for Coach John Wooden. So when Ashley Armstrong, the Director of Student-Athlete Development, called and asked me to speak to The Wooden Academy, it was a no-brainer to accept her invitation, though I had to admit that I knew little about what The Wooden Academy is or does. My guess is you don't know much about the Wooden Academy either. So follow along on my little journey back to Pauley Pavilion and by the time we finish you'll know just what the Wooden Academy is all about...and be reminded once again of why you are proud to say you are a UCLA Bruin.
I played sparingly for Coach during the glory years of UCLA basketball, found myself disappointed and depressed by my lack of playing time, and had gone twenty-five years after graduation without contacting or speaking with my old Coach. By the time I figured out that the lessons he taught me had formed the basis for everything I knew about leadership and much of what I knew about life, so much time had passed by that reconnecting with my old Coach seemed like re-opening a Pandora's box filled with pain and failure. But if Coach had taught me anything, it was to be unafraid of failure and confident that pain often leads to learning and growth. I picked up the phone to thank him fourteen years ago. That phone call changed my life, and my passion for communicating Coach's lessons to the world is now my life's work. Since that reunion with Coach, I've spent countless hours at his side soaking in more of his lessons. I even wrote a book with him called BE QUICK, BUT DON'T HURRY: Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime , and I travel the country making speeches about Coach's Pyramid.
To prepare for my speech, I arranged to meet Ashley for breakfast in advance of the event to discuss the topics I should include. She brought along her co-worker, Sue Enquist, a legendary Bruin in her own right who one could arguably call "The John Wooden of Women's Softball." Ashley and Sue laid out their vision for The Wooden Academy, and I was blown away by their passion and enthusiasm. How thrilling to hear that it was their intention that every Bruin student-athlete should be thoroughly exposed to the principles and ideals of John Wooden, including Coach's Pyramid of Success. Of course, I was exposed to this stuff first hand as a student, and didn't realize the relevancy of the lessons until decades later. But I had high hopes that at least some of today's student-athletes would be smarter than I was, and learn to embrace their Bruin heritage and use the Pyramid of Success as a guidepost in their lives and careers. I left that breakfast excited that this opportunity had come my way, and determined to be sure that Ashley and Sue would feel that my evening with the athletes had a positive impact.
Old habits die hard, especially when those habits were ingrained by John Wooden, so on the night of the presentation I re-wrote my note cards and made sure I got to Pauley Pavilion early to make sure we were prepared. The night of January 19 was right in the middle of an enormous rain storm, and I mentally lowered my expectations of a large audience...people in Los Angeles just don't go out in the rain. But attendance at The Wooden Academy isn't just a suggestion, it is a requirement. Imagine my surprise when the bleachers started to fill up with hundreds of young men and women, athletes of all shapes and sizes...and all Bruins. Nearly forty years since I last took the floor in Pauley Pavilion as a player, I was finally going to get into the game as a starter. As my pal Bill Walton would say, "What a long, strange trip it's been!" While I was waiting for the program to begin, Ashley and Sue had arranged for a camera to record the athletes sending best wishes to Coach Wooden, and I got a chance to meet a few of the youngsters. Mustafa Abdul-Hamid dropped by and we were introduced. Though I remembered meeting and chatting with Mustafa at one of Coach Howland's annual barbeques, Mustafa clearly didn't remember our earlier encounter...but then it was "game time"...and it was time for me to talk to the students.
Words fail me in trying to describe how I felt as I stood before these exceptional youngsters. I'd spent three miserable years sitting on Coach Wooden's bench...no more than thirty feet from where I now stood. The "wheel of life" had sure taken its time returning me to this spot, and I wasn't going to waste this golden opportunity, especially since I was talking about my favorite subject, John Wooden and his Pyramid of Success. In my meeting with Ashley and Sue, I asked to speak about "Team Spirit" which Coach defines as, "An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all." My own lack of team spirit had led me to feeling disappointed, saddened, and depressed by my role as a seldom used substitute on three national championship teams. As much as I hated not playing, there are few opportunities to lobby for more playing time when your team goes 87-3 during your career. But years later I had come to realize that my parents' friends were right that I should be proud of myself for simply being a part of a team that has the letters "UCLA" on their jersey. Who had prevented me from having team spirit? Who could I blame? Coach? My Mom and Dad? Nope, the only person I could blame was me...yours truly. The only reason those years on the bench were not the happiest years of my life was my own unwillingness to take on that block of Coach's Pyramid that showed me the way. Heck, if I had been "eager to sacrifice personal glory for the welfare of all" I probably would have been the happiest guy in Westwood. It was my fault, plain and simple.
But there's another side to this story...sitting on the bench sucks. While every athlete in the stands had been a standout in their high school, most of them were either in supporting roles or sitting on the bench at the Division 1 level. So while most folks shy away from talking to subs, I'm uniquely qualified to discuss how much not realizing your dreams hurts. Yet if you are sitting on the bench and it doesn't hurt, you might as well pack it in. You have to believe you are good enough to play. If you aren't, when your time comes, you won't be worth a damn. So while it has to hurt, the challenge is to find a balance between the disappointment of not playing and the thrill of being part of the greatest intercollegiate sports program in history. If just a few of these young athletes heard my message, that's good enough for me.
The hour with the students really flew by, and after some questions from the audience about what it was like to play for Coach Wooden, it was time to head off into the cold and rainy night. Did every athlete in attendance walk away with a devotion to the teachings of John Wooden? Not very likely. But I am sure that many of them do take Coach's teachings seriously, and have developed a deeper understanding of why he was voted the greatest coach ever in a recent poll. John Wooden is UCLA's greatest legacy, and now The Wooden Academy has created a formal way of passing along his wisdom. At 99 years of age, Coach's flame is flickering. The John Wooden Academy has taken that flickering flame and created a giant torch...passing along Coach's lessons to an entirely new generation of UCLA Bruins.
Like any good story, this one has to come to an end. The last athlete I got a chance to speak with was Mustafa Abdul-Hamid. After hearing me speak, Mustafa remembered we had spoken at Coach Howland's house, and he wanted to talk some more. My words about sitting on the bench hit home for Mustafa, and he confided in me that he was struggling with his feelings of frustration. I reminded him that "struggling" was the best he could do...sitting and watching is never easy. But the real struggle was to find a balance between the negativity of hurt feelings and the positive feelings that come from having true team spirit. As the years pass, what he'll remember is the pride of wearing the UCLA uniform and running out on the floor at historic Pauley Pavilion. I pointed to the rafters and told Mustafa to focus on those championship banners and the unique opportunity he had to be playing at UCLA. Stay patient...stay positive...your time will come! Two nights later...with the clock ticking down and the Washington Huskies leading by one...Mustafa's time did come. Every Bruin fan was happy...but no one was happier for him than I was.