In 1948, the University of Minnesota was looking for a new Men's Basketball Coach. Dave MacMillan had just retired for a second time, citing health reasons and the University was looking for a long-term answer for their Men's Basketball program.
The Gophers reached out to a rising coach from Indiana State Teacher's College (now Indiana State University) named John Wooden. Wooden had led ISTC to the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and had received an invitation to the NAIB Tournament (which he declined, citing the tournament's ban on African-American players).
There was, however, another program looking for a new basketball coach, as well: UCLA. Wooden reportedly favored Minnesota, since he and his wife preferred to stay in the Midwest.
John Wooden: One of the biggest "What Ifs" in
Minnesota sports history
John lined up a phone call with each institution; first Minnesota, then UCLA an hour later. John waiting by the phone when the Gophers were supposed to call. He waited...and waited...and waited. Eventuall, the phone did ring.
It was UCLA.
Thinking that the Gophers had lost interested in him, he accepted the UCLA job.
Minutes after accepting the Bruins job, the phone rang again. It was Minnesota. There had been a snowstorm in Minneapolis and the athletic director had been stuck in the middle of it, preventing him from making the phone call. He offered Wooden the job on the spot, Wooden declined the offer because he had already given his word to UCLA.
Wooden had immediate success at UCLA and instantly turning around a faltering program. Prior to his arrival at UCLA, the Bruins had won only two conference championships in the previous 18 years. By 1965, UCLA was a national powerhouse recruiting the likes of Bill Walton and arguably the best high school prospect of all time Lou Alcindor.
Wooden led UCLA to 10 national championships (including seven straight from 1967 - 1973) and has transformed UCLA as one of the most successful college basketball programs in history.
The Gophers, on the other hand, hired away Michigan head coach O.C Cowles.
Ozzie Cowles was 416-189 as a basketball coach
including 146-93 as the head coach at Minnesota
Cowles was named the Big Ten Coach of the year with the Wolverines in 1947. Cowles saw immediate success with the Gophers too, finishing with an 18-3 record and ranked #6 in the AP Poll. He would coach the Gophers until 1959. Although he didn't have the same national success as he did at previous coaching jobs like Darthmouth (8 Ivy League titles, three NCAA Tournament appearances, NCAA runner-up in 1943) and Michigan, the OC Cowles era of Gopher Basketball is often referred to as the "Golden Era" of the program.
The two big differences in the coaches (other than the 10 banners hanging in Pauley Pavilion right now) are the coaching philosophies. Cowles was an "old-style" coach. In February 1949, the Long Beach Press Telegram ran a lengthy story on Cowles negatively impacting an evolving game:
"Ossie Cowles has put the brakes on basketball in the Western Conference, and speculation is rife over whether the hardwood sport has seen the limit, for the time being at least, of the 'fire department' style which sent scores soaring and left fans, players and coaches breathless. Coach Cowles finds himself in a storm center."
Cowles was also opposed to the
shot-clock, stating that "it forces players to take shots they wouldn't
normally take" and was an outspoken opponent of a rule added in 1950 limiting a
player to one free throw if fouled in the act of shooting (in a game of Michigan
State, he elected for a jump ball instead of shooting free throws).
Cowles had losing seasons in his final
two seasons at Minnesota while the league adapted to the rule changes, and he
resigned in 1959 amidst anti-Cowles talks among Gophers fans and
officials.
Wooden, however, revolutionized the game
on his journey to becoming the 'Wizard of Westwood'. Wooden had (at the time) a
unique offensive system that included run-and-jump, 1-3-1 trapping,
box-and-one, and switching man-to-man defense...a lot of strategy that the
modern day coaches are still using.
However, if it's any consolation to
Gopher fans, despite all of his early success, Wooden didn't initially enjoy
his position. He saw the early success of the Gophers under Cowles, plus his
wife didn't enjoy Los Angeles (Happy Wife, Happy Life). Two years into his
coaching career at UCLA, the coaching job at Purdue University opened up.
Wooden really wanted to return to Indiana with his wife and take the coaching
job there, but UCLA officials dissuaded him when they reminded him that he had
verbally committed to them for three years.
And after all, Gopher fans, John
Wooden IS a man of his word.
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