John Wooden's friends, family and former players all say they didn't need an award from a national magazine to confirm the identity of the greatest coach in American sports history.
Yet the Sporting News made it official Wednesday, recognizing the 98-year-old Wooden as the pinnacle of a profession that was redefined by the UCLA coach over his unmatched career in Westwood.
During a luncheon in the John Wooden Room at one of his favorite restaurants in Sherman Oaks, the coach saw the real reward for a life spent teaching, mentoring and improving lives: A room packed to overflowing with the recipients of those lessons, from his daughter, Nan, to current UCLA coach Ben Howland, to former Bruins center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
"I thank you all for the very kind words," Wooden said in a voice altered but not slowed by age. "No one can really honestly be the very best, no one ... (but) these youngsters that have spoken - and some of them aren't so young anymore - they're the ones that make the coaches."
Former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi was second behind Wooden, who received 57 first-place votes from a panel of 118 sports experts assembled by Sporting News. Alabama football coach Bear Bryant was third, with the NBA's Phil Jackson and football's Don Shula fifth.
