Leave UCLA after taking them to the final 4 and sweet 16 in 1977? Seems like a crazy move for someone who had been at or near the top of the college hoops world. Was it the money, the ego boost of building something from the ground up, or the willingness to take on a challenge?
It's a question I'd love to get some of the old timers thoughts and opinions on.
He wasn't coach wooden and he did things differently. It's hard to come in to a situation right after a legend.
He once said his greatest professional accomplishment was getting out of LA alive.
His biggest sin? He wasn't John Wooden.
(03-18-2014 07:50 PM)Dracorex Wrote: [ -> ]He wasn't coach wooden and he did things differently. It's hard to come in to a situation right after a legend.
Very true, but even so, why did he willingly come to a situation like UAB and not take another big time coaching job? It's not like he was fired from UCLA for poor performance. I'm sure he could've got a much better job.
Could he have landed a better job? Probably, but I have no idea what the coaching carousel was doing at the time and I think he was intrigued by the idea of starting a brand new program he could put his stamp on, something he wasn't going to get to do at UCLA.
Highly recommend Seth Davis's book on Wooden
http://www.amazon.com/Wooden-Coachs-Life...0805092803
I haven't finished it yet, but there is a chapter toward the end called Clean Gene.
I am only to the point he took the UCLA job but I have learned so much about basketball in the 30’s and 40's. One of the best books on basketball I've read
Bartow had offers all thru the 80‘s. After Eddie Sutton, Kentucky offered him. He almost took it but turned it down at the last moment. Even Memphis looked at bringing him back. I think after living in the fishbowl at UCLA, he realized he didn't want that pressure again. He had the perfect thing here, where he was successful and a legend. He wouldn't have that anywhere else.
Remember that the division between the big conferences and smaller conferences weren't as great back then. Smaller schools could make noise nationally.
Were there any other start up basketball programs at that time? Did UAB seek out gene Bartow or was it the other way around?
UAB wanted to start a basketball program and hired him as a consultant. It became apparent to Scotty McCallum (or was it Dick Hill?) that when describing the kind of guy UAB needed, Bartow was describing himself, so McCallum offered him the gig.
Bartow saw a chance to do something special (and get the hell out of LA) so he took it.
He was hired as a consultant for UAB starting a new program. Working through that process... He actually was offered the job and they went from a "what if" scenario to a very real offer. I recently came to possess the original letters (yeah, it was way before email) of all of the back and forth from the hiring as a consultant to the actual hire as coach. Awesome reading!
Wow that's really cool. Thanks for all the history guys.
BTR how in the heck did you come into possession of those letters??
There was immense pressure at UCLA. He liked Birmingham. So did his wife. He liked the challenge of starting a new athletic program. He even liked the golf courses in the Birmingham area. He loved to play golf. He liked to play raquetball, too, and he frequently played raquetball at UABs student gym. I do not think that he and his wife cared for living in such the huge city of Los Angeles. I believe he put his family first on his decision to come to Birmingham.
(03-18-2014 09:19 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]Wow that's really cool. Thanks for all the history guys.
BTR how in the heck did you come into possession of those letters??
He sneaked into the office disguised as a rooster.
(03-18-2014 07:43 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]Leave UCLA after taking them to the final 4 and sweet 16 in 1977?
Because he
only made it to the Final Four and Sweet 16 instead of winning it all. Fans and media didn't think that was good enough. He thought, "What is wrong with you people?" He left for a place where the fruits of his labors would be better appreciated.
I don't have any info to back that up. I just want to see if I can bait BAMANBLAZERFAN into drawing a parallel between this and the Nick-and-Terri-Saban-to-Texas fiasco.
(03-18-2014 08:36 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: [ -> ]Highly recommend Seth Davis's book on Wooden
http://www.amazon.com/Wooden-Coachs-Life...0805092803
I haven't finished it yet, but there is a chapter toward the end called Clean Gene.
I am only to the point he took the UCLA job but I have learned so much about basketball in the 30’s and 40's. One of the best books on basketball I've read
This is a great book.
It's just still so crazy to me that such an accomplished basketball coach from the highest echelon of the college basketball coaching ranks would come to Birmingham to start a brand new athletics program and basketball team.
He was a pretty extraordinary guy.
(03-19-2014 07:58 AM)thebernreuter Wrote: [ -> ] (03-18-2014 07:43 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]Leave UCLA after taking them to the final 4 and sweet 16 in 1977?
Because he only made it to the Final Four and Sweet 16 instead of winning it all. Fans and media didn't think that was good enough. He thought, "What is wrong with you people?" He left for a place where the fruits of his labors would be better appreciated.
I don't have any info to back that up. I just want to see if I can bait BAMANBLAZERFAN into drawing a parallel between this and the Nick-and-Terri-Saban-to-Texas fiasco.
If it works
(03-19-2014 08:07 AM)uabblazer2012 Wrote: [ -> ] (03-18-2014 08:36 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: [ -> ]Highly recommend Seth Davis's book on Wooden
http://www.amazon.com/Wooden-Coachs-Life...0805092803
I haven't finished it yet, but there is a chapter toward the end called Clean Gene.
I am only to the point he took the UCLA job but I have learned so much about basketball in the 30’s and 40's. One of the best books on basketball I've read
This is a great book.
You want to read a great basketball book? Read "Second Wind", by Bill Russell. It is an awesome book. He was a "very intelligent" basketball player.