John Wooden's last maxim: Love God and Love Others

TheCypressTimes.com ^ | 07/11/2010 | Steven Lawson

[Patriot1259]

Current UCLA men's basketball coach Ben Howland described Wooden as a humble man. "His basic nature was love," Howland said.

Wooden's pastor, Dudley Rutherford, assured the crowd of 4,000 gathered at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus, of his parishioner's eternal destination. "Coach made it," Rutherford declared. "He is there [in heaven] not because he was a good teacher . . . or won basketball games. He is in heaven because he put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ."

Rutherford gestured to the record 10 NCAA national championship banners won by Wooden's teams that hang in Pauley Pavilion [more championships won than any other coach ever], and said, "You can win one-thousand of these things and it will not get you into heaven. The only thing that gets you into heaven is putting your faith in Jesus Christ."

Rutherford, senior pastor at the 7,000-member Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch, California, visited Wooden almost daily while the legendary UCLA men's basketball coach was hospitalized before his June 4 passing at age 99. During one visit, Wooden-who read scripture daily for most of his life-asked that Matthew 22:37-39 be read at his memorial service.

It reads, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Through the years Wooden fashioned maxims that have been quoted often and applied by thousands, maxims such as "Be quick, but don't hurry," "Make every day a masterpiece" and "Don't let making a living prevent you from making a life." He also often said, "Love is the greatest word in our language."

[OKSooner]

BTTT.

[OKSooner]

New tagline courtesy of Coach Wooden.

[FlJoePa]

Sam Gilbert. google the name. Nuff said.