This medal was awarded to Coach John Wooden by the Helms Athletic Foundation in recognition of All-Time Achievement as a coach of the All-American Basketball Team. The Helms Athletic Foundation was founded in 1936 by Paul H. Helms for the purpose of promoting the interest of wholesome athletics while contributing monetarily to these programs. The Foundation selected National Champion teams and All-American teams in college sports through 1982.
Coach John Wooden (1910-2010) was the basketball coach at UCLA from 1948 to 1975. In that time, he won ten NCAA basketball championships, seven of which were consecutive (1967-1973). Wooden holds the record for the most consecutive games won in men’s college basketball with 88 consecutive victories. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003 and selected as ESPN’s “Coach of the 20th Century.” As a player at Purdue University he was named an All-American three times. He was the first person ever to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (1961) and a coach (1973). In addition to his coaching career, he is known for his “Pyramid of Success,” which is a guide to being successful in life in addition to basketball.