Reprieve—and An Electroluminescent Finale

The third straight title, and fifth in six years, was a personal triumph for John Wooden, who might be the first man to make the basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach. Five different schools, including UCLA itself, had won two NCAA titles in a row, but they all lost their electroluminescence somewhere on the way to a third. Only San Francisco in the middle '50s and Cincinnati in the early '60s really came close. USF, coached by Phil Woolpert, finished third after its two title years. Cincy, under Ed Jucker, reached the finals against Loyola of Chicago and went into overtime before losing its third try.

Alcindor was the first "big man" Wooden ever had, and the ardent champion of the fast-break attack was happy to have "the challenge of a change," to show that his Bruins could not only frug but also dance sedately when they had the right Maypole.

"It was not as easy an era as it might have seemed to outsiders," said Wooden. "But it's been a tremendous era, I think. I've heard it said that any coach would have won championships with Lewis. That might be true, it really might. But they'll never know. I do."