“I think he would say it actually is something you don’t have control over,” Close said, “so to put your energy there actually distracts from the process that it would really take to play your best when your best is needed.”
Cori Close, John Wooden talked about much more than basketball
As the story goes, she could hardly utter her name when they met.
By then, Close had heard stories about the great John Wooden for a decade. She remembers her father and a high school coach discussing the celebrated figure in the 1980s, though the conversation didn’t fully resonate.
When she was a point guard at UC Santa Barbara, preparing to travel down the 101 Freeway to face UCLA, her coach gave a history lesson on not just the Bruins’ women but also Wooden. The point was to fully convey the challenge his team faced in such a historic venue as Pauley Pavilion.
