Diary No. 4: Muir Basketball Coach Dr. Gamal Smalley at the Final Four

Muir boys basketball coach Gamal Smalley is in Houston for the weekend to attend the National Association of Basketball Coaches Convention and check out the Final Four. He'll be sending Patch updates about his trip throughout the weekend.

Dear Patch.com,

Like so many basketball enthusiasts who grew up in Southern California, I was a huge fan of the great John Wooden’s championship teams at UCLA. As a 15-year-old varsity basketball player at John Muir High, I read his book, “They Call Me Coach.” This book remains one of my favorites of all time and it impacted my life greatly. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to coach one day, and this week here at the Final Four in Houston there have been several tributes to Coach Wooden and his coaching philosophies, which have contributed to leaders worldwide from basketball to fortune 500 companies.

About five years ago, Pasadena City College’s Hall of Fame Basketball coach George Terzian (who is here with his family also) introduced me to Coach Wooden and he told him that I was a fine up and coming coach. I shook his hand and my wife often jokes how my feet did not touch the ground as I walked away flushed with joy and admiration. Being here at the Final Four, 302 days after Coach Wooden’s passing at age 99, has jarred many emotional feelings for me in recognition of the enormous privilege it is to coach young people with the intent on making a positive impact in their lives.

We have been enjoying our time here in Houston, but I can’t wait to get back to Muir for the start of our spring workouts. We have spotted many greats here such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, John Thompson and so many more. However it has all served as motivation to get back home and work harder than ever — with Wooden principles.

Kind regards,

Coach Smalley