A HOF Dinner With John Wooden

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Once the past had been set aside, talk turned to catching up on the intervening years. Careers and families. We talked as much of Wooden's philosophies on success and how they had impacted all of us: "Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail. Great leaders give credit to others but accept the blame themselves."

Wooden wanted to talk baseball with Carew. "It's my favorite sport," Wooden admitted. "So much thinking, so much strategy." You got the feeling had Wooden gone into baseball we never may have heard of Casey Stengel.

Andy's wife Janice and John's wife Karen prepared dinner. They fixed Coach's favorite chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, and biscuits with honey (coach would eat two). Another of Wooden's favorites – blueberry pie with ice cream – was dessert. Coach said the prayer. The evening's highlight came during dinner when John Vallely announced that he had just completed his final chemo session and has been declared cancer free. It gave the entire evening perspective. (Ed. note: Vallely's cancer would return. Read of his heroic second battle with cancer, and his relationship with Coach Wooden elsewhere on HOFMAG.com)

Artis Gilmore goes airborne in the 1970 final four against St. Bonaventure. UCLA under John Wooden beat Jacksonville in the final.

After dinner we retired to the Hill living room, and we all literally sat at Coach's foot as he walked us through his proudest professional accomplishment, The Pyramid of Success. Its cornerstones are "industriousness" and "enthusiasm." At its peak are "faith" and "patience." Wooden's pyramid took the one time Indiana high school English teacher 14 years to complete. He then shared with us his favored poems and stories of his two favorite people from history, Mother Teresa and Abraham Lincoln.

The love and respect Hill and Vallely have for Wooden was obvious. They see or speak with him daily. "Coach has become this mythical figure," said Hill. "But he is no saint. He could give it to a referee or an opposing player with the best of them. Coach is human, he has his flaws." His sense of self is what gives his teachings their weight. Wooden hates his nickname, The Wizard of Westwood. "I'm no wizard," he insists. "The team with the best players almost always wins. You need talent to succeed." There is nothing mystical about that.

When the evening came to an end, the elder and his now middle-aged guests rose to say their good-byes. For 33 years five of them had been bound together by a game. A game in which what they were was more important than who they were.

Now with the innocence of youth gone, and many of the promises of what was to come fulfilled, why others are left forever unanswered, everyone would go into the future with an understanding and respect for the person each of the others had become.

The next morning I received an email from Vallely. "Coach really had a great time last night," he reported. He was as touched that Artis would travel across the country to see him as he was impressed by his gentleness. And he really loved talking baseball with Rod. " Like the afternoon in March more than three decades earlier, the January evening in Los Angeles had left its mark on everyone who was there, even John Wooden.

(Authors note: John Vallely was inducted into the UCLA HOF in October, 2006. His opponent at point-guard that day in 1970, Dr. Vaughn Wedeking, will be inducted into the Harrison (Indiana) high school HOF in December. He is already a member of the Jacksonville University HOF. Since the dinner in 2003, Dr. Wedeking has been diagnosed with a rapidly degenerative brain disorder, termed frontotemporal dementia. Vaughn's wife, Dayle, reports that Vaughn's life is peaceful and asks that you keep him in your prayers.)