John Wooden

My favorite John Wooden story was when Bill Walton returned for his senior season with long hair and a beard, which was against Wooden's rules. Walton told Wooden he had the right to long hair and was going to stand by his beliefs. Wooden told him he admired a man who stood by his beliefs and then said, "we're going to miss you." Walton left and came back with short hair and no beard. Wooden could stand by his beliefs, too. Oh, and at the time UCLA was in the midst of the longest winning streak in NCAA history, 88 straight games.

I miss coaches like John Wooden and Jack Hartman. As much as I respect and admire Bill Snyder and his coaching job at K-State--and the way he sticks by his principles--Jack Hartman will always be my favorite K-State coach.