if you do the following three things, you will be successful in major college basketball. If you don’t do them, it will be most difficult.” He didn’t say it would be impossible — typical of John Wooden — but he said it would be difficult. I was scrambling for my pen when he said, “Those three things are fairly simple: Number one, make certain, Dale, you always have better players than anybody you play. Now, with that locked up, make sure you always get the better players to put the team above themselves. And number three — this is very important, Dale Brown,” he said, “don’t try to be some coaching genius, or give the guys too much information, or too much stuff; always practice simplicity with constant repetition.

John Wooden A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring
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About John Wooden

John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (1961) and a coach (1973). He was the first person ever enshrined in both categories; only Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman have since been so honored. He was awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003. He led UCLA basketball program from 1948 until 1975. He was the coach for UCLA winning 10 championships in 12 years. He is also famous for his pyramid of success.

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Additional quotes by John Wooden

During the toughest challenges in my life I’ve come to most appreciate all Coach Wooden means to me. The things he would say — “Don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal, don’t whine, don’t complain, don’t make excuses; worry about the things you can control, and not the things you can’t” — were endless. Yet there is an appropriate one for every situation. The real