Well-written and thoroughly researched, Seth Davis' biography of John Wooden - "Wooden", A Coach's Story- is an honest appraisal of the great coach's life. Davis works with dozens of players, coaches, and others who were closest to the man to paint a fully-fleshed out portrait of a complex man. Wooden, the owner of the most men's NCAA basketball titles in history was a genius on the job, a doting husband, and a polished PR man. He also built one of the greatest dynasties in sport's history, let alone college basketball history.

Davis interviews former Bruin stars like Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Marques Johnson, Lucius Allen, Walt Hazzard, Gail Goodrich, Sidney Wicks, and Curtis Rowe, just to name a few to give readers a close look at every UCLA season under Wooden. Also interviewed extensively for this book are the Bruin benchwarmers who provide some of the most interesting details and honest appraisals of the Wizard of Westwood.

College basketball fans and historians will find this book an absolute treat. Author Davis has done a wonderfully fair job creating a complete story of John Wooden's life. This book is a slam dunk! ( )

For any basketball fan who really likes to know about the history of the college game, this is a great book. It gives a very raven picture of Wooden, talking about both his good points and his bad points. It also gives a lot of background on the relationships with his players and how they changed over the years. I knew little about Wooden before reading this and found it enjoyable. ( )

I'm probably slightly off the target audience for this book. I like basketball but the NCAA variety has all the things about it that I dislike about amateur sports (mostly the so-called amateurism and exploitation of athletes.) On the other hand, the subject of this book was around for the transition of college athletics from its original purpose into the big-money show it is today. I didn't know much about John Wooden before requesting this book except that he was still making the occasional speech around 2008 (thanks, Dodgers broadcasts.) I learned a lot about both Wooden and the history of college basketball from this book, as well as why basketball is so important in Indiana culture. It was fascinating showing how this coach worked so well when he started but couldn't keep up with the changes in generations, particularly the growing political consciousness of college students in the late 1960s, and couldn't keep up with the rise of boosters. Davis writes that boosters were always around the game, even in the 1930s; the money and stakes just got bigger. I appreciated that this biography was neither hagiography nor hatchet job; Davis shows what Wooden got right as well as what he got wrong. ( )

Seth Davis thoroughly details the life events, on and off the court, that turned Johnny Wooden the boy into John Wooden the man. Davis tells Wooden's story in a delightfully readable prose that flows remarkably quickly through the decades without leaving any detail untold. We've all heard of the legend that Wooden was, Davis proves it many times over. This is not a basketball book, it's about a man more than worthy of emulating who just happened to be associated with the game. ( )

Seth Davis makes Wooden a real person and not this iconic coach. ( )