Wooden: A Coach's Life by Seth Davis

Wooden: A Coach's Life by Seth Davis

A provocative and revelatory new biography of the legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, by one of America's top college basketball writers

No college basketball coach has ever dominated the sport like John Wooden. His UCLA teams reached unprecedented heights in the 1960s and '70s capped by a run of ten NCAA championships in twelve seasons and an eighty-eight-game winning streak, records that stand to this day. Wooden also became a renowned motivational speaker and writer, revered for his "Pyramid of Success."

Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports has written the definitive biography of Wooden, an unflinching portrait that draws on archival research and more than two hundred interviews with players, opponents, coaches, and even Wooden himself. Davis shows how hard Wooden strove for success, from his All-American playing days at Purdue through his early years as a high school and college coach to the glory days at UCLA, only to discover that reaching new heights brought new burdens and frustrations. Davis also reveals how at the pinnacle of his career Wooden found himself on questionable ground with alumni, referees, assistants, and even some of his players. His was a life not only of lessons taught, but also of lessons learned.
Woven into the story as well are the players who powered Wooden's championship teams - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Walt Hazzard, and others - many of whom speak frankly about their coach. The portrait that emerges from Davis's remarkable biography is of a man in full, whose life story still resonates today.

Seth Davis enjoys instructing others and repairing broken items. He has worked in the pressure vessel manufacturing and nuclear industries for over ten years as an x-ray licensed pipe welder and fabricator. He also instructs several sectors in the Midwest on welding, fabrication, and manufacturing/maintenance skills. Mines, steel mills, wind turbine manufacturers, and other industrial manufacturing and power firms are among these industries. He has a BS in Construction and Business Management, an AAS in Carpentry, and an Associates degree in Welding Technology, as well as an MBA in Leadership and Strategy.

(He also claims to have been educated beyond his IQ level.) This, he claims, occurred sometime after third grade.)