Working my way through John Wooden's A Game Plan for Life, I read a chapter by Andy Hill, one of Coach Wooden's players and mentees.
Hill played on three UCLA championship teams, was sometimes called the "right-handed Gail Goodrich", and had (in his mind) a disappointing career at UCLA as a benchwarmer.
Years later he had an epiphany on the golf course, when a colleague told him to "slow down and get your balance." He realized that he had been dismissive of one of the great teachers of his era, Coach Wooden, who preached, "be quick, but don't hurry." Twenty-five years after playing for UCLA, he reconnected with Coach Wooden and revisited his lessons.
Hill had enjoyed success after his college career in the entertainment field, as president of CBS Productions and involved in producing Touched by an Angel, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, among other hits. But he hadn't made the connection between his UCLA experience under Coach Wooden and his success. He finally appreciated the leadership, respect, timeliness, communication, and attention to detail that he had translated from Wooden's practices into his own career.
The uninitiated think our primary role as coaches is developing basketball players. Certainly, knowledge of the game, teaching ability, organization, attention to detail, and game management all contribute to the successful coach.
But we coach life. When we share a system of values and discipline, we offer far greater lessons that our students carry forward over a lifetime. So many coaches have shared their wisdom helping us...
"Never mistake activity for achievement." - John Wooden
"The game honors toughness." - Brad Stevens
"There is nothing stronger than gentleness." - John Wooden
"A lion never roars after a kill." - Dean Smith
"I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." - Ellis 'Sonny' Lane, my high school coach
The basketball court is our classroom, our laboratory, our canvas where we teach and help others create. There's irony contained in Phil Jackson's book title, Sacred Hoops. Andy Hill? I'd never heard of him, but a lot of us are more like him than we know.