Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books - especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.

He was also selected for membership in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Wooden also authored a lecture and a book about the Pyramid of Success. He left it as a national powerhouse with 10 national championships--arguably the most successful rebuilding project in college basketball history.

Wooden was renowned for his short simple inspirational messages to his players including his "Pyramid of Success". Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood" he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period—seven in a row—as head coach at UCLA an unprecedented feat. As a player Wooden was the first to be named basketball All-American three times and he won a Helms National Championship at Purdue in 1932 seven years before the birth of the NCAA tournament.