Dean Smith who popularized the four-corner offense and John Wooden who holds the NCAA Division I record for coaching the most consecutive college wins were both guards in college.
Smith took his University of North Carolina Tar Heels to the Final Four in the NCAA Division 1 Basketball Tournament 11 times, and he coached his Tar Heels to two national championships, winning his first in 1982 and his last in 1993.
Wooden led his UCLA Bruins to 12 Final Four appearances, winning 10, the most of any coach in NCAA Basketball Division I history. He coached the Bruins to win 10 in just 12 years.
Born in Emporia, Kan. On Feb. 28, 1931, Smith finished his college coaching career that began in 1961 with 879 victories, the most of any Division I coach at the time. He retired in 1997 with the ninth-best winning percentage for college coaches at his level, a 77.6 mark. His teams suffered 254 losses during his 36-year career.
As for winning percentage, Wooden posted a career winning percent of 81.3 by finishing his coaching career in 1975 with a record of 664-162. His record at UCLA was 620-147, and during one streak, his Bruins won 88 consecutive games while posting two undefeated championship seasons, 1971-72 and 1972-73.
Smith was a member of the NCAA Basketball championship team coached by the legendary Prog Allen at the University of Kansas in 1952.
Wooden became the first college player in NCAA Basketball history to be named All-American three times. He was a star for Purdue University from 1930 to 1932. Born in Hall, Indiana on Oct. 14, 1910, he passed away at 99 in Los Angeles on June 4, 2010.
UCLA’s Bruins set an NCAA record in NCAA Tournament play under Wooden by winning 38 games in a row in NCAA Tournament competition, a streak that began in 1964 and continued with UCLA winning seven consecutive national championships.
As for NIT championships, Smith’s 1971 Tar Heels won the title, and Wooden’ Bruins won seven NCAA championships in a row, another record that has stood the test of time.
Both coaches have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith was enshrined in 1983, and Wooden was as both a player (1960) and as a coach (1973), the first person to be selected as both a player and a coach.
As a professional basketball player, Wooden made 134 consecutive free throws during one season.
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