For Some, It’s a Happening of Legendary Proportions

You would expect any young man who wears a UCLA basketball uniform to grasp the significance of playing in front of John Wooden in the Wooden Classic today. To be safe, Coach Steve Lavin offered his team some historical perspective.

“It’s the equivalent of playing a football game with Vince Lombardi in attendance,” he told them. “It’s exciting. It’s an honor.”

Did that analogy from the grave make an impression?

“Certain kids really get the concept and other ones have no idea,” Lavin said. “To some of them, anything before 1993 is just ancient history.”

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Sophomore guard Earl Watson has another reason to think the Wooden Classic is special.

“You’ve got the Kansas fans and the Oklahoma State fans and it’s a great environment,” Watson said. “It’s like the Big 12 versus the West Coast.”

Watson and freshman JaRon Rush, both from Kansas City, know two of the Oklahoma State players they will face today. Cowboy forwards Michael Johnson and Fredrik Jonzen played for Shawnee Mission East High in suburban Kansas City.

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Only seven Division I coaches have won 600 games in 28 years. Two of them will be in the Pond today. Wooden is one. Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton is the other.

Sutton, who began his career at Creighton in 1970, has a 613-242 record and ranks behind only Denny Crum, Bob Knight and Jerry Tarkanian among active coaches with the most victories and highest winning percentages.

Since returning to his alma mater at Stillwater in 1990, he has won 70% of his games and taken the Cowboys to the NCAA tournament in six of his eight seasons.