John Wooden as a Christian

At the passing of John Wooden, here is a reflection on his religious or spiritual life.  These are the things related to his faith that were the most meaningful to him.  I will never forget when his UCLA dynasty teams came to Pullman to play in the old Bohler Gym and the Performing Arts Center in 1973 and 1974.

I hold John Wooden up as a genuine American hero.  I always wondered why he didn't take a more active role or speak out as a Christian about Christ.   I have several books about basketball and life by him and I've read them carefully.

Another influence on Wooden was the religion of his youth – and the girl he shared it with, Nell Riley. “I was baptized with the young woman who was to be my wife later on, the only girl I ever dated, in 1927,” Wooden says. “We were juniors in high school and she was the only girl I ever went with and we had a relationship and she suggested that we join at the same time. 

"I don’t want to say that I accepted Christ at that particular time because of the fact that I did this primarily because she wanted me to. But my acceptance came gradually as time went by.”

Wooden took great solace from the Bible, a copy of which sits in each room of his home today. His favorite passage, 1 Corinthians 13, reads in part: “Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 

It is yet another theme that marks his life: “I do believe that adversity makes you stronger,” he says, “And I do believe in many ways, perhaps not in financial ways, that adversity from hard work does make you able to accept the more difficult things as they would come along later in your life.”

Religion continued to be major factor in Wooden’s life. He read Scripture daily, attended the First Christian Church of his childhood, and professed deep admiration for evangelist Billy Graham, who is a personal friend.