UCLA Basketball - Still the Greatest

    Growing up in Indiana I had a healthy disdain for UCLA sports, especially basketball, since my (our) Hurry'n Hoosiers were trying to catch up with the greatness of John Wooden's legacy. By the time I was a sophomore in high school we won our fifth overall championship, still only half of the number that the Bruins of John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, accomplished by 1975. Bob Knight racked up three NCAA championships, adding to the early century titles under another IU basketball legend, and we (I) thought that we were on our way to get them. 

    In 1987 IU had five, North Carolina had two, and Kentucky had five. Duke had none. (!). In the late 1980s we Indiana/Knight fans had hopes that the Hoosiers of Bloomington would surge ahead and catch the former Purdue player and then master coach Mister Wooden in southern California. Alas, it was not meant to be. UCLA won again in 1995 with a one-off, to total 11. Kentucky now has eight, UNC 6, and Duke 5. UConn and Kansas are knocking on the door with four each.

    Indiana still sits at five total rings, now most of my life ago. And, I am likely past my half-way point in life, although I would like to live to 106. That would bring me to 100 years past the perfect IU team of Knight's first champions, and the last undefeated college victors.

I wanted to give more a tribute to UCLA and its program in this post, since I read about one of their last championship guards, Greg Lee, age 70, who just died of an auto-immune disorder. From what I know he led a really good life, surrounded by friends and family.

Lee helped the Bruins get their last rings of Wooden's amazingly dominant era. There are many great players from that time period that I do not know much about. His death was a chance to know another part of that incredible run when the Bruins won 10 rings in 12 years. Probably never to be duplicated. Kansas, going to the championships back in the 1950s, is still in possession of only four. The Jayhawks lost to the Hoosiers twice, in the first two decades, with one in '52, then got another after Indiana in 1988 (Danny Manning was the man), 2008 (a banked three pushed it to Overtime), and last season, 2022. Kansas has had more talent then most other college teams, all time. The Tarheels, now the Blue Devils, the Wildcats of Kentucky... Even UCLA. Or now Gonzaga, UConn, Villanova. Michigan, Louisville, and on...

Those are the best talented teams in the last 50 years. But none of them can catch UCLA in total championships.

Rest in peace, Greg Lee. Prayers to you and yours. You were blessed to be a part of the Wizard of Westwood, a man who was born and raised in Martinsville, Indiana, some 20 miles north of Bloomington. Indiana.

One last IU note: they, my Hoosiers, should be really good this season. Can we finally put number six in the rafters? We may have the talent. Need some discipline and luck. It could happen. We have a super experienced front line, with a big frosh off the bench, and quite a few ballin' smalls. We may be the right combination 2023.