John Wooden's fight against the status quoWhen someone thinks of a person who went against the world or changed it, some specific characters like Abraham come to mind Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr. These people fought for civil rights. Although it was difficult for them to overcome it, they received a lot of support. John Wooden was actually also a famous civil rights figure. In 1947 his team was invited to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball national tournament in Kansas. (Ex) They had said in the contract that no African Americans were allowed in the tournament, so John Wooden rejected the offer citing that the policy used was unfair to a player on his team Clarence Walker. He defended his African-American player and went against the world in another way, too. (Ex) He went against the basketball world. "The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team." -John Wooden. (My personal best 23) This quote represents what John Wooden believed, how he thought, and how he wanted people to act. He believed that hard work was the only way to get things done. The world saw that he worked hard and did everything to the best of his ability, but they didn't believe that he would become the greatest basketball coach of all time. John Wooden showed the world that he would try to succeed by working hard as a child, developing a new coaching technique, and breaking many basketball records as a coach. John Wooden lived on a farm in Martinsville, Indiana with his family of 5. His mother, Roxie Anne Wooden, and father, Joshua Hugh Wooden, raised him and his siblings with hard work and obedience. (Wooden on Leadership 35) His father had a rule, in housework and O'Risky 2study......middle of paper......against the world and he succeeded. They prove that he could invent new ways of coaching, new ways of playing and new ways of thinking and still be able to set world records that still stand today. Age 99 - GoSycamores.com: Official Website of Indiana State Athletics." Former Indiana State Head Basketball Coach John Wooden Dies at Age 99 - GoSycamores.com, Official Website of Indiana State Athletics. Np, 6 May 2010. Web. 30 March 2014."THE LEGEND, THE LEGACY, THE LESSONS." Wooden. N.p. Web. March 30, 2014. Wood, John and Steve Jamison. My Personal Best: Life Lessons from an All-American Journey. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print. Wooden, John and Steve Jamison. Wood on Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.