I have just completed 40 years of coaching.  I started in 1965 after playing at Wittenberg University for the legendary Ray Mears (1 yr) and Eldon Miller (3 yrs).  My philosophy of coaching and of life was, to a large degree, shaped in the early days of my coaching career when I had the wonderful privilege of hearing, first Ray Mears, then John Wooden back-to-back at a 7-up Clinic in Louisville, KY.  Coach Wooden simply and directly challenged my philosophy that had been shaped and formed largely by Ray Mears and his uncommon success and approach.  I decided that I believed more like Coach Wooden than I did Coach Mears.  While I still to this day love and respect Coach Mears, I can honestly say that Coach Wooden's influence gripped the direction of my life.  I have coached at Wadsworth HS in Ohio, Akron University, Western Michigan University, and finally now at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, where I am entering my 41st year with all of the determination and enthusiasm of a 20 year old!

I could hardly hold back the tears last night as I listened once again to this marvelous human being.  His Pyramid of Success, on a poster in my office for many years, his signed Pyramid with Best Wishes on a sheet of paper, and his definition printed by the printing press at WMU in the 60's have been visible while influencing each of the student-athletes under my supervision over the years.  I, too, am a small town product, from New Paris, Ohio, located a few miles from Richmond, Indiana, which is not too far from Martinsville, Indiana.  I too was an English teacher as well as a basketball coach from the beginning.  And I too can relate to almost every aspect of Coach Wooden's life.  Even 40 years ago, when Coach Wooden arrived at a clinic, it was as the popular commercial by E. F. Hutton so poignantly demonstrated, everyone around him "listened."    I marveled even then at how the conversation in the room would quiet as he walked around simply because other coaches desperately wanted to catch even a few words from the mouth of this remarkable personality.  The tenets of his philosophy have motivated every aspect of my teaching and coaching.  His early book, They Call Me Coach, has been my handbook through these years.  I am not at all surprised at the unprecedented popularity of this wonderful man.  His message is indeed timeless.  And his influence has indeed transcended the game he loved to coach.  Thank you, Steve Hawkins, for your part in bringing Coach Wooden to Kalamazoo, and thank you Coach Wooden for being a most exemplary human model of what being a Man Built for Others means.  You have been, to be sure, a "man that was considerate of others."  And your legacy and example will continue to live in the lives of many, many other coaches, who will continue to guide many, many other student-athletes toward becoming all that they were meant to be.  Your life has truly made a difference, and it will continue to guide me as long as I am privileged to teach and coach young people in this great game.