On March 31, 1975, the UCLA Bruins beat the Kentucky Wildcats 92-85 for the 10th and final championship under the legendary Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. The greatest collegiate coach in U.S. history retired after his team’s 7-point win at the Sports Arena in San Diego. UCLA was the best in college basketball in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 & 1975. An astonishing 10 titles in 12 years! Nothing in major collegiate sports compares to the dominance of what Wooden accomplished in his final dozen years in Westwood. A week later, Steve Garvey was on the April 7, 1975 issue of SI, but the story that captivated the sports world was the final game of Wooden’s time at UCLA. The end of an era that will never be replicated… and he went out a champion. Now in retirement at the age of 64, Wooden retreated to his home and continued to be a mentor to the many players who played for him at UCLA, notably, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Lucius Allen, Larry Farmer and countless others. His beloved wife Nell passed in 1985 and Coach fell into a deep funk. His children were deeply worried about the mental anguish the widowed Wooden was enduring with the passing of his wife after 53 years of marriage. Gradually he came out of it with the help of his family, friends, and players who visited with him regularly. One of those who saw Coach Wooden on a regular basis for home visits was his podiatrist, Dr. Michael Levi. Michael would come often to check on the now 80+ year old Coach Wooden and the two soon became more than just a doctor-patient relationship. They would often have breakfast together and talk about family, life, baseball, God, books and any other topic that Wooden found interesting… which was everything. Michael would return home and write down everything that had taken place upon his visit with Coach… and in 2016, 6 years after Coach Wooden was laid to rest at the age of 99, Levi published a book with the help of former L.A. times writer Larry Stewart called, “Wednesdays with Wooden.” Levi talks about how he went to a camp as a 6-year old and saw Wooden for the first time and how is father idolized the legendary Bruins coach. He tells us on the Past Our Prime podcast how he and Wooden became friends over their time together and how he was able to give his father the best birthday gift ever… lunch with Coach Wooden. Levi tells us about the depression that felled the Coach after the death of Nell and what brought him out of it and how the phone never stopped ringing at Coach Wooden’s house with players calling to check up on him constantly throughout the day…. Every day… It’s an intimate and personal look at the most successful college coach in NCAA history from a man who checked on Wooden’s feet, and ended up getting a piece of his heart. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and hit that subscribe button while you’re at it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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