Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Wooden’s Legacy Slowly Tarnished by Impatience

THIS PAST SUMMER, FORMER UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden passed away at the age of 99. Considered by many to be the greatest coach in basketball history, Wooden led UCLA to 10 national titles, including seven straight titles, and a record-winning streak of 88 games.

Wooden’s coaching philosophy derived from his famous Pyramid of Success. At the top of the pyramid are two words: faith and patience. It is very sad that the latter is increasingly ignored in the sport he loved.

Patience has no place in today’s culture of instant gratification. Across the landscape of college basketball, the only thing that counts is immediate results.

Programs fire their coaches before they even have a chance to succeed. North Carolina let go of Matt Doherty after just three seasons in 2003, even after he brought in a top-flight recruiting class of Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Sean May that would win the national title in 2005. Even small schools without storied basketball histories can’t bear to wait for better days anymore. In March, Holy Cross fired Head Coach Sean Kearney after only one year.

Yet coaches themselves often leave town to make some extra cash instead of staying in their current jobs with the knowledge that success will eventually ensure money. Other times, coaches jump at new challenges without finishing old ones. Oliver Purnell, the coach who revived Clemson basketball but couldn’t get the Tigers past the first round of the NCAA tournament, jumped to Big East bottom-dweller DePaul in the hopes of rebuilding that program.

And the players on the court don’t exhibit much patience either. Instead of signaling a need to get better, a lack of playing time is often seen as a green light to transfer. Underclassmen leave school for the NBA well before they are ready and many times find themselves undrafted and without a college education.

In contrast to today, John Wooden built his UCLA dynasty on the foundation of patience. While Wooden immediately turned the program from a weakling into a contender, the Bruins only won three NCAA tournament games during Wooden’s first 15 years in Westwood. Yet the 12 years that followed saw UCLA win 10 national championships. One can’t help but doubt that Wooden would be given so long to build up his program today.

We live in a different world now in which the financial stakes and media exposure are much greater. Universities, coaches and players have the opportunity to earn large amounts of money and fame in basketball, and so we shouldn’t expect to see much patience in such a high-reward industry.

championships. One can’t help but doubt that Wooden would be given so long to build up his program today.

We live in a different world now in which the financial stakes and media exposure are much greater. Universities, coaches and players have the opportunity to earn large amounts of money and fame in basketball, and so we shouldn’t expect to see much patience in such a high-reward industry.

But if the major actors in college basketball can’t be expected to instill patience back into the sport, then we as fans should do our part. Why? Because patience makes us better fans. The very art of being a fan entails frequent disappointment. Patience allows us to endure these setbacks while remaining firmly committed to our team.

So if the Hoyas get off to a bad start this year, don’t lose interest-wait for them to work out the kinks. Don’t give up on a slumping player-wait for him to get his stroke back. Don’t agonize over every close loss-wait until the end of the season to judge the squad.

As fans, our patient commitment to our program, our coaches and our players can only count for so much. It can’t change the financial considerations at play, but it can remind everyone that college basketball is about more than just money. It’s about a community coming together in pursuit of success.

And as John Wooden said many times, “Success requires patience.” If anyone knew about success, it was him.

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