UCLA won only TWO conference championships in 18 years before Wooden arrived.
In his first season he took a team that was 12-13 the previous year and was Pacific Coast Southern Division champ at 22-7, the most wins in history for UCLA, going back to 1919!
By the 1955–56 season, Wooden guided the team to its first undefeated PCC conference title and a 17-game winning streak. By the 1961–1962 season, the probation CAUSED BY FOOTBALL VIOLATIONS was no longer in place and Wooden got UCLA into the Final Four of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
In 1964, UCLA went 30–0 won its first national title ever with Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich. UCLA repeated the national title in 1965.
Lew Alcindor first showed up in 1967 with another national title and another 30–0 season.
Alcindor left, but UCLA kept winning national titles, including 1971. UCLA won 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973.
He never made more than $35,000 a year salary from UCLA, including 1975, the year he won his 10th national championship, and never asked for a raise.
In his first season he took a team that was 12-13 the previous year and was Pacific Coast Southern Division champ at 22-7, the most wins in history for UCLA, going back to 1919!
By the 1955–56 season, Wooden guided the team to its first undefeated PCC conference title and a 17-game winning streak. By the 1961–1962 season, the probation CAUSED BY FOOTBALL VIOLATIONS was no longer in place and Wooden got UCLA into the Final Four of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
In 1964, UCLA went 30–0 won its first national title ever with Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich. UCLA repeated the national title in 1965.
Lew Alcindor first showed up in 1967 with another national title and another 30–0 season.
Alcindor left, but UCLA kept winning national titles, including 1971. UCLA won 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973.
He never made more than $35,000 a year salary from UCLA, including 1975, the year he won his 10th national championship, and never asked for a raise.