LOS ANGELES ― Before Glenn Robinson and Zach Edey, John Wooden was Purdue basketball‘s first National Player of the Year.
It was 1932 and Wooden led coach Ward “Piggy” Lambert’s team to a 17-1 record and the final No. 1 ranking.
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Purdue was named Helms Foundation national champions, seven years before the first NCAA tournament, and Wooden was the Helms Player of the Year.
“We try to keep that lineage with Purdue alive because I think that gets lost a little bit that he was such a great player,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
Most places, Wooden is revered for his coaching success, winning 10 national titles at UCLA in a 12-season span.
There’s few, if any, who tie two college basketball programs the way Wooden does with the Boilermakers and Bruins, who’ll play at Pauley Pavilion at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
UCLA will wear throwback uniforms and have a halftime celebration with Wooden’s family.
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Fittingly, the first 7,500 fans through the doors will receive a John Wooden bobblehead, featuring his likeness in a UCLA jacket with his arms crossed, a different take on the one Purdue gave away years ago as a promotion with Wooden in a Purdue tank top and basketball in hand.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter (left) shares a laugh with legendary coach John Wooden at the annual Wooden Tradition basketball event press conference Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse. (STEVE HEALEY/Indianapolis Star)
Statues of Wooden reside outside Pauley Pavilion and Mackey Arena, where coincidentally ― or not ― the first game played featured Wooden’s UCLA Bruins against Purdue in 1967. The following season, Wooden won his fifth national title at Purdue’s expense, beating the Rick Mount-led Boilers in the NCAA final.
Before Wooden was the “Wizard of Westwood,” Wooden was a wizard in West Lafayette with what he could do on the basketball court.
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“He played at Purdue and I think that’s something that gets lost a little bit because he was so successful as a coach at UCLA, but he was a three-time All-American and one of the best players to ever play at Purdue,” Painter said.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: John Wooden, one of Purdue’s greatest players, recognized by UCLA
