This Day in Basketball History

It has been a very basketball nostalgia-filled day today.

I have been watching the NBA Finals for the last little while and I have also been online reading articles about the greatest Coach in sports history, John Wooden. I enjoyed the comments that were made at halftime about Coach Wooden from his two most prolific players, Kareem Abdul-Jabber and Bill Walton.

When someone has success in a given field, there are usually many who like to take shots at them to bring them down to size. I know that I am not extremely old in a coaching sense having coached for about 17 or 18 years, but in all my years of being a fan, player (debatable), and coaching, I have never heard anyone say one mildly irreverant comment about Coach Wooden. He had the affect on his players that all well meaning coaches wish to have...a positive one. The word most synonomous with Coach Wooden is "Teacher". His servant leadership style was akin to the "Great Teacher", Jesus Christ.

Today has been a neat day in another regard for me. I have had a chance to experience two of the great basketball gyms in all of college athletics. This weekend I had the great opportunity to work with Coach Sylvia Hatchell at the University of North Carolina Girl's Elite camp. Coach Hatchell is a wonderful woman that I look up to because of both her success on the floor and her heart for her player's off the floor. It was reassuring for me that she and her staff are taking such good care of former Westbury Christian Lady Wildcat, Waltia Rolle (who has grown and inch in the last year to 6-6 1/2). In this morning's final session, I had the opportunity to coach a basket and officiate a game at the Dean Smith Center. It is as huge as it looks on TV. There is carolina blue everywhere you turn. The banners and the retired jersey's of all the greats are hanging from the ceiling. A very impressive building.

On my way out of Chapel Hill after camp was over at noon, I decided to make the 10 mile (or so) trip to Durham and try to catch a glimpse of Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke. I walked in the front door and looked around and it turned out there was a camp for older gentlemen who I believe are Business Executives. I went in and sat down and watched and snapped a few photos on the disposable camera I bought for the weekend. It was a very different gym that was much smaller and intimate than the Smith Center. The gothic stone architecture mirrored that of the other buildings on campus. These arenas are both very impressive and very different. They represent the dichotomy between large universities and smaller private schools. They have in common, however, a rich tradition in basketball excellence and leadership with first-class programs. I was evidently lucky as the lady running the gift shop told me that there were a few people that were kicked out of Cameron because they didn't have the right credentials. I was certainly an uninvited guest and my apologies to the University for imposing. As a basketball purist and junkie, it was neat to experience these things. I feel very fortunate. I think it is always important to be curious about the history and traditions in one's family, work, and faith.

This weekend was the best one I have had since I began as Head Women's Coach at Faulkner because I feel that I developed multiple substantive player and coach recruiting contacts. Recruiting and checking up on Waltia were my primary objectives for the trip. A side benefit of the trip was the humbling thought that there was a point in time when each of those Universities chose to begin basketball programs on their campuses, much like we are doing in women's basketball next year. A coach and a few players had to get things started. I liked...er, loved the championship banners. However, the retired jerseys in the rafters gave me an overwhelming sense of respect for of all of the unique coach's and players that gave their heart and soul to the programs over the years. North Carolina Men's Basketball has had a team for exactly 100 years. I wonder what the gym at Faulkner is going to look like in 100 years. What names will be hanging from the ceiling? Will our program be as successful at developing successful young ladies as Coach Wooden, Coach K, and Coach Hatchell have been at developing young leaders?

It is fun to think about the possibilities...

Blessings,

Coach

"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."
--Coach John Wooden