well I’m gonna start you off with a fact
not an alternative fact but a fact John
Wooden was the greatest coach in the
history of American sport to give you
some of thank you is the fabric of the
legacy that we all share his Bruins he
set records it’ll never be equal ten
championships in twelve years eighty
eight straight games 38 straight games
in the NCAA tournament
Wow who will ever do that and when he
retired in 1975 in fact he didn’t really
stop work and he just kept teaching this
unique philosophy that led to that
enormous success in Pauley Pavilion and
the essence of that philosophy his
pyramid of success is based on a
definition of success very different
than what most of us grew up with we
grew up with mr. Webster’s definition
the attainment of money power and fame
and yet I had the unique opportunity to
work in the entertainment industry and
know that a lot of people who are rich
powerful and famous were amongst the
most miserable people I ever met in my
life coaches definition is different
coaches definition is that success is in
fact peace of mind that you only get
through knowing that you’ve done your
best to be the best that you’re capable
of being your competition in life is
with no one other than that potential
that resides within you that’s what led
to all those championships but it also
led to this opinion he was the happiest
most fulfilled person I ever met so let
me tell you a little bit about my back
story with coaches dr. Strauss mentioned
I grew up about a mile away from here
dreaming of going to UCLA not playing
basketball but go to school here and I
guess I got pretty good and ended up
getting a chance to come to UCLA and
play for the great John Wooden what a
dream a dream come true I played
freshman basketball it was the most
valuable player with Henry Bibby I
couldn’t wait and then I spent the next
three years planted
firmly on the bench watching the Bruins
go 87 and three and winning three
national championships I’m one of 13 men
who’ve been on three championship teams
no big surprise the other 12 they all
played for John Wooden and what we learn
beyond this basic philosophy of life
about being your best is that in fact in
that pursuit of excellence that that’s
where our real happiness comes in so I
come up to school here I meet coach I
play I sit on the bench for three years
and honestly thought that’s it for me in
coach see you later he was a professor
in my favorite class and he flunked me
three times straight after all who wants
to go see that guy so I left UCLA I went
into the entertainment business had some
success got very lucky and got fired
gave me an opportunity to really examine
how had I gotten where I got in the
entertainment business and realized that
I was really good at getting a group of
people to work towards a common goal
and I guess that sounded familiar and I
realized that everything I knew
everything I believed in was the result
of this man who I thought it didn’t like
and it didn’t like me but 25 years or no
25 years I knew I had to pick up the
phone and call him to thank him for what
he’d given me now I had a phone number
but it was old it was 25 years old
remember the old days it didn’t have an
area code in front of it but I knew if
there was one guy who hadn’t moved it
was coach and I’d made difficult calls
running a studio fired people cancelled
shows but no call whatever made me that
anxious the idea of calling up coach and
not just eating crow but eating a boxcar
filled with crows to say coach you were
right and I was wrong thank you well it
took me about a day I finally dialed the
phone and rang a few times and then when
you’re really anxious about a phone call
the greatest thing happened it could
possibly happen the answering machine
picked up and great I just have to leave
a message well the thing beep and
little message plays like a high coach
this is Andy Hill now keep in mind at 25
years a long time I thought he might not
remember me even worse I thought he
would remember me and thought who wants
to talk to that guy well the phone picks
up and I go hi coach this is Andy Hill
and bang he picks that thing up so fast
you can’t believe it that crafty old
dude screamed his calls and we went
right back to where we left off 25 years
ago he said hey where are you I said
what do you mean where am i where are
you and then something happened changed
my life I heard a caring an interest a
concern on the other end of the phone I
never could have imagined said Andy when
are you gonna come see your old coach I
miss you well I went to see him the next
day we spent about five hours together
talked about leadership and life and at
the end of those five hours I went
downstairs to my car drove outside and
there was coach up in the balcony waving
goodbye I drove around the corner I
turned my car off I cried for about 10
minutes
wow I had reconnected with someone in my
life who could be a mentor in a way I
didn’t have and so what a thrill that I
got to spend the next fourteen years
with John Wooden and what a wonderful
thing to be here today cuz he passed
just upstairs so I feel like he’s right
here with us so what did I really learn
from coach this idea that you could keep
getting better well a lot of it came
from his own dad he gave him when he
graduated from grade school to lists of
threes don’t lie don’t cheat don’t steal
and the other one which he actually
really invoked don’t whine don’t
complain don’t make excuses which even
as he aged and dealt with lots of
illnesses or the one thing you never
heard from coach was a complaint what
you heard from him was gratitude he also
by the way wasn’t afraid of dying he
talked about it a lot and he had great
faith you know you could imagine when
you’re 18 19 20 years old and this old
guy but by younger than me today but
this old guy
kept telling us that the three most
important things in our life or our
family our friends and our faith
now come on when you’re 18 years old
what is it it’s girls in basketball or
if you’re really into hoops basketball
and girls family friends and faith we’re
what coaches whole life was about
he had grandchildren great-grandchildren
and all these alumni around him which
gave him great joy but at the end of the
day coach’s life and his lesson about
aging is the same as his lesson about
life it’s about changing and getting
better now before I get into that
because change is hard and that’s a
problem we all like to be right now I
hope I get anybody in trouble here but
if any of you here ever use this line
you knew who I was when you married me
you know what coaches say that’s
pathetic
but the truth is it’s very powerful
because if you believe you aren’t going
to change you’re always right and if you
think you can you’re just getting
started
it’s not easy to change it’s hard so I
want to tell you a few stories about
change the nature of change first one is
about having a sense of urgency to
change to get better coach whether you
know it or not was the most romantic man
I ever met
married to Nellie for 55 years when she
passed on the 21st of each month they
she’d write her a love letter put her
under her pillow so years later I asked
coach do you have any regrets in life
and he had went really fast he said oh
yes he said you know my Nellie oh she
loved to dance and I never learned how I
was a shy farm boy now if coach had
another round at it he’d be on Dancing
with the Stars
I promise you but he didn’t do it
you have to approach change with a sense
of I’m gonna get it done because if you
approach it with the sense of I’m gonna
do it later just say forget about it I’m
not doing it you have to be urgent this
was what his change look like most of us
aren’t very good at it
after I’d become really close with Coach
I’ve got to write a book with him and as
part of the book tour we’re doing a show
in Burbank so I go over to his house and
pick him up and my wife’s big SUV and
we’re driving to Burbank keep in mind we
become really close now and we’re on the
134 freeway and I knew at this point
that part of my problem with coach was
when I had come to UCLA I was looking
for a dad coach was looking for a point
guard we had really missed so coach says
out of the blue as we’re driving up the
freeway Andy have I ever told you how
much I love you
have I ever told you how much I
appreciate that you picked up the phone
and called me I should have called you
well the first thing that went through
my mind was I was gonna drive right off
the freeway but I was in my wife’s car I
knew I couldn’t do that next thing was I
thought I was gonna cry I’d waited my
whole life to hear these words and now
I’m hearing them from John wouldn’t Wow
but I knew if I started to cry I would
freak that old dude out so I took a deep
breath I said you know Coach know you’ve
never said that before I’ve seen it in
your eyes I felt it in your hug but to
hear you express those emotions thank
you I love you too it’s what 95 year old
John would have said to me I want you to
think about he said you know I’ve been
working on expressing my emotions I
think I’m getting a little better at it
that’s what change looks like it’s small
it’s incremental and it happens every
day coach had this great expression make
each day your masterpiece
masterpiece is you it’s your life keep
painting keep making it better what I
want to close with is the last speech
John wouldn’t ever made now he’s the
greatest speaker I ever saw he was
getting an award as the greatest coach
of all time and he was dying he was 98
so instead of having it in Pauley
Pavilion we had a little restaurant that
seen 40 but its last speech What did he
say well the first thing he didn’t
looked over at his players there were
ten of us there he said I don’t think I
deserve the credit he said I’d like to
think I helped I was sitting next to a
guy you may have heard of Kareem
abdul-jabbar I had one of these little
NCAA watches oh hey Kareem I got three
of these you got three dozen he had ten
cream said you bet he does it’s why we
both have three give him credit to
others oh that was natural for coach but
the next thing he said like Linda was
talking about identifying Alzheimer’s
when it happens he made me nervous you
know I want you to know I made a big
mistake in my pyramid of success and I
thought uh-oh but in fact he wanted us
to know he left the most important word
in the English language out of his
pyramid of success that word is love
l.o.v.e not love as an emotion love is
an action when you go to a wedding they
read the first Corinthians love that’s a
patient and kind doesn’t boast doesn’t
envy that was coach and of course he
always used poems and he had all these
expressions so he threw one in a song in
the song until you sing it a bell isn’t
a bell until you ring it and the love
that’s inside you wasn’t put there to
stay love is in love till you give it
away
well uh I was starting to cry so was
everybody else but where did John Wooden
end he was flickering right before our
eyes but what’s the very last thing the
happiest guy I ever met in my life said
to us he looked over at his boys for
only had been everything a teacher a
mentor a friend and he looked over at us
and he said you know guys I just have
one regret I wish I’d done a little more
I just wish I’d done a little bit more
John Wood is life was about two words
love and service keep changing keep
getting better devote your life to
others and service and a happiness just
like John wouldn’t have had it it will
come your way thank you god bless
[Applause]
not an alternative fact but a fact John
Wooden was the greatest coach in the
history of American sport to give you
some of thank you is the fabric of the
legacy that we all share his Bruins he
set records it’ll never be equal ten
championships in twelve years eighty
eight straight games 38 straight games
in the NCAA tournament
Wow who will ever do that and when he
retired in 1975 in fact he didn’t really
stop work and he just kept teaching this
unique philosophy that led to that
enormous success in Pauley Pavilion and
the essence of that philosophy his
pyramid of success is based on a
definition of success very different
than what most of us grew up with we
grew up with mr. Webster’s definition
the attainment of money power and fame
and yet I had the unique opportunity to
work in the entertainment industry and
know that a lot of people who are rich
powerful and famous were amongst the
most miserable people I ever met in my
life coaches definition is different
coaches definition is that success is in
fact peace of mind that you only get
through knowing that you’ve done your
best to be the best that you’re capable
of being your competition in life is
with no one other than that potential
that resides within you that’s what led
to all those championships but it also
led to this opinion he was the happiest
most fulfilled person I ever met so let
me tell you a little bit about my back
story with coaches dr. Strauss mentioned
I grew up about a mile away from here
dreaming of going to UCLA not playing
basketball but go to school here and I
guess I got pretty good and ended up
getting a chance to come to UCLA and
play for the great John Wooden what a
dream a dream come true I played
freshman basketball it was the most
valuable player with Henry Bibby I
couldn’t wait and then I spent the next
three years planted
firmly on the bench watching the Bruins
go 87 and three and winning three
national championships I’m one of 13 men
who’ve been on three championship teams
no big surprise the other 12 they all
played for John Wooden and what we learn
beyond this basic philosophy of life
about being your best is that in fact in
that pursuit of excellence that that’s
where our real happiness comes in so I
come up to school here I meet coach I
play I sit on the bench for three years
and honestly thought that’s it for me in
coach see you later he was a professor
in my favorite class and he flunked me
three times straight after all who wants
to go see that guy so I left UCLA I went
into the entertainment business had some
success got very lucky and got fired
gave me an opportunity to really examine
how had I gotten where I got in the
entertainment business and realized that
I was really good at getting a group of
people to work towards a common goal
and I guess that sounded familiar and I
realized that everything I knew
everything I believed in was the result
of this man who I thought it didn’t like
and it didn’t like me but 25 years or no
25 years I knew I had to pick up the
phone and call him to thank him for what
he’d given me now I had a phone number
but it was old it was 25 years old
remember the old days it didn’t have an
area code in front of it but I knew if
there was one guy who hadn’t moved it
was coach and I’d made difficult calls
running a studio fired people cancelled
shows but no call whatever made me that
anxious the idea of calling up coach and
not just eating crow but eating a boxcar
filled with crows to say coach you were
right and I was wrong thank you well it
took me about a day I finally dialed the
phone and rang a few times and then when
you’re really anxious about a phone call
the greatest thing happened it could
possibly happen the answering machine
picked up and great I just have to leave
a message well the thing beep and
little message plays like a high coach
this is Andy Hill now keep in mind at 25
years a long time I thought he might not
remember me even worse I thought he
would remember me and thought who wants
to talk to that guy well the phone picks
up and I go hi coach this is Andy Hill
and bang he picks that thing up so fast
you can’t believe it that crafty old
dude screamed his calls and we went
right back to where we left off 25 years
ago he said hey where are you I said
what do you mean where am i where are
you and then something happened changed
my life I heard a caring an interest a
concern on the other end of the phone I
never could have imagined said Andy when
are you gonna come see your old coach I
miss you well I went to see him the next
day we spent about five hours together
talked about leadership and life and at
the end of those five hours I went
downstairs to my car drove outside and
there was coach up in the balcony waving
goodbye I drove around the corner I
turned my car off I cried for about 10
minutes
wow I had reconnected with someone in my
life who could be a mentor in a way I
didn’t have and so what a thrill that I
got to spend the next fourteen years
with John Wooden and what a wonderful
thing to be here today cuz he passed
just upstairs so I feel like he’s right
here with us so what did I really learn
from coach this idea that you could keep
getting better well a lot of it came
from his own dad he gave him when he
graduated from grade school to lists of
threes don’t lie don’t cheat don’t steal
and the other one which he actually
really invoked don’t whine don’t
complain don’t make excuses which even
as he aged and dealt with lots of
illnesses or the one thing you never
heard from coach was a complaint what
you heard from him was gratitude he also
by the way wasn’t afraid of dying he
talked about it a lot and he had great
faith you know you could imagine when
you’re 18 19 20 years old and this old
guy but by younger than me today but
this old guy
kept telling us that the three most
important things in our life or our
family our friends and our faith
now come on when you’re 18 years old
what is it it’s girls in basketball or
if you’re really into hoops basketball
and girls family friends and faith we’re
what coaches whole life was about
he had grandchildren great-grandchildren
and all these alumni around him which
gave him great joy but at the end of the
day coach’s life and his lesson about
aging is the same as his lesson about
life it’s about changing and getting
better now before I get into that
because change is hard and that’s a
problem we all like to be right now I
hope I get anybody in trouble here but
if any of you here ever use this line
you knew who I was when you married me
you know what coaches say that’s
pathetic
but the truth is it’s very powerful
because if you believe you aren’t going
to change you’re always right and if you
think you can you’re just getting
started
it’s not easy to change it’s hard so I
want to tell you a few stories about
change the nature of change first one is
about having a sense of urgency to
change to get better coach whether you
know it or not was the most romantic man
I ever met
married to Nellie for 55 years when she
passed on the 21st of each month they
she’d write her a love letter put her
under her pillow so years later I asked
coach do you have any regrets in life
and he had went really fast he said oh
yes he said you know my Nellie oh she
loved to dance and I never learned how I
was a shy farm boy now if coach had
another round at it he’d be on Dancing
with the Stars
I promise you but he didn’t do it
you have to approach change with a sense
of I’m gonna get it done because if you
approach it with the sense of I’m gonna
do it later just say forget about it I’m
not doing it you have to be urgent this
was what his change look like most of us
aren’t very good at it
after I’d become really close with Coach
I’ve got to write a book with him and as
part of the book tour we’re doing a show
in Burbank so I go over to his house and
pick him up and my wife’s big SUV and
we’re driving to Burbank keep in mind we
become really close now and we’re on the
134 freeway and I knew at this point
that part of my problem with coach was
when I had come to UCLA I was looking
for a dad coach was looking for a point
guard we had really missed so coach says
out of the blue as we’re driving up the
freeway Andy have I ever told you how
much I love you
have I ever told you how much I
appreciate that you picked up the phone
and called me I should have called you
well the first thing that went through
my mind was I was gonna drive right off
the freeway but I was in my wife’s car I
knew I couldn’t do that next thing was I
thought I was gonna cry I’d waited my
whole life to hear these words and now
I’m hearing them from John wouldn’t Wow
but I knew if I started to cry I would
freak that old dude out so I took a deep
breath I said you know Coach know you’ve
never said that before I’ve seen it in
your eyes I felt it in your hug but to
hear you express those emotions thank
you I love you too it’s what 95 year old
John would have said to me I want you to
think about he said you know I’ve been
working on expressing my emotions I
think I’m getting a little better at it
that’s what change looks like it’s small
it’s incremental and it happens every
day coach had this great expression make
each day your masterpiece
masterpiece is you it’s your life keep
painting keep making it better what I
want to close with is the last speech
John wouldn’t ever made now he’s the
greatest speaker I ever saw he was
getting an award as the greatest coach
of all time and he was dying he was 98
so instead of having it in Pauley
Pavilion we had a little restaurant that
seen 40 but its last speech What did he
say well the first thing he didn’t
looked over at his players there were
ten of us there he said I don’t think I
deserve the credit he said I’d like to
think I helped I was sitting next to a
guy you may have heard of Kareem
abdul-jabbar I had one of these little
NCAA watches oh hey Kareem I got three
of these you got three dozen he had ten
cream said you bet he does it’s why we
both have three give him credit to
others oh that was natural for coach but
the next thing he said like Linda was
talking about identifying Alzheimer’s
when it happens he made me nervous you
know I want you to know I made a big
mistake in my pyramid of success and I
thought uh-oh but in fact he wanted us
to know he left the most important word
in the English language out of his
pyramid of success that word is love
l.o.v.e not love as an emotion love is
an action when you go to a wedding they
read the first Corinthians love that’s a
patient and kind doesn’t boast doesn’t
envy that was coach and of course he
always used poems and he had all these
expressions so he threw one in a song in
the song until you sing it a bell isn’t
a bell until you ring it and the love
that’s inside you wasn’t put there to
stay love is in love till you give it
away
well uh I was starting to cry so was
everybody else but where did John Wooden
end he was flickering right before our
eyes but what’s the very last thing the
happiest guy I ever met in my life said
to us he looked over at his boys for
only had been everything a teacher a
mentor a friend and he looked over at us
and he said you know guys I just have
one regret I wish I’d done a little more
I just wish I’d done a little bit more
John Wood is life was about two words
love and service keep changing keep
getting better devote your life to
others and service and a happiness just
like John wouldn’t have had it it will
come your way thank you god bless
[Applause]
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