Wooden’s Sweet presence is felt in the North County

North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
ENCINITAS —- The North County gym echoes with the sweet sound of a
bouncing basketball, rivaling the sporadic cheers of a sparse crowd.
…

ENCINITAS —- The North County gym echoes with the sweet sound of a bouncing basketball, rivaling the sporadic cheers of a sparse crowd.

Good luck trying to hear the rubber hit the road to the Final Four this week at the noisy Sweet 16 venues. Thousands of fans will be screaming, and not because their NCAA brackets show more red marks than a shoddy term paper.

Something else made ears perk during a recent youth basketball league game at the Encinitas Community Center: John Wooden’s voice.

Wooden, the legendary UCLA coach, isn’t standing by the bench with his rolled-up program and quiet dignity. Instead, his words land on a group of 13-year-olds coached by Bill Eblen.

In countless ways, Eblen mimics Wooden. His composed demeanor is a contrast to the gyrations and demonstrative acts his coaching counterpart displays.

Eblen never raises his voice, instead lifting the play of fortunate youngsters on his city recreation squad.

His grandson, Ryan Somers, is among them.

“He’s always calm,” Somers said. “And he loves to coach.”

Eblen’s son, Bill Jr., has helped his father the past four years.

“It’s definitely been fun to coach with him,” said the younger Eblen, 42. “He really likes helping the kids.”

The elder Eblen, who turns 72 in May, distributes lessons in even tones with a warm smile. It’s done in a teaching vein, instead of a what-were-you-thinking decibel level.

Eblen knows of which he speaks: The Encinitas resident played for Wooden from 1955-57.

UCLA’s 1955-56 team went 22-6, was ranked No. 2 and advanced to the Sweet 16.

“But there were only 16 teams in the tournament back then,” Eblen said, with a laugh.

The ’55-56 Bruins fell to Bill Russell’s powerful University of San Francisco squad, but that didn’t diminish Eblen’s joy of playing for Wooden.

Eblen was a Bruin before Wooden was an icon, before Pauley Pavilion became the Yankee Stadium of college arenas, with championship banners filling the rafters.

Eblen went 44-10, but didn’t win a national title team. Still, Eblen has that championship feel, with a compass pointing to the positive.

It’s a direction he found under Wooden.

Now, Eblen distributes encouragement to his youth team —- named, you guessed it, the Bruins. And he does so even though his players don’t know a Wooden from a Walton.

Scratch that. This generation does know a Walton —- Luke Walton, that is.

Ken Fujioka sees Eblen’s ways, calling them “amazing.” His son, Noah, is Eblen’s center.

“What I noted is that he loves the game and loves to coach, as opposed to coaches that love to coach but love to win more than anything else,” Fujioka said.

While running his Bruins through practice at Encinitas’ spiffy gym, Eblen recalled UCLA workouts in the stuffy, second-story gym fire marshals eventually shut down.

But that’s where Wooden’s genius —- he would win 10 NCAA titles —- was revealed, priming UCLA for its next challenge.

“It was all about preparation,” said Eblen, a former Camp Pendleton Marine who is retired from the food services industry. “There was never a pause in practice. He would blow his whistle and say, ‘No, no, no. This is how you do it.’ It was simple —- he wanted the fundamentals done with perfection.

“That’s what I try hard to do with the kids —- tell them to try to do it right every time, then pretty soon, you do it right in the game. What was so great about Wooden? When you think about it, it is the preparation, the fundamentals. Nothing ever changes; he never deviates.

“And really it’s the same lessons for life. Don’t worry about the opposition, worry about yourself and always try to be prepared. I used the same thing in business —- don’t worry about what the other guy is doing, make them worry about you.”

Eblen didn’t fret about snagging jobs after UCLA. While building a Los Angeles dry cleaning business, he would cold-call and list one hot reference: John Wooden.

“This was back when they were going 30-0 every year,” Eblen said. “Soon I would be talking to the company president. It was, ‘Mr. So-and- So wants to see you.’ They didn’t care what my degree was or background, I got the job.”

When Eblen’s occupation was peddling food, his salesman’s work menu was a familiar script: Wooden’s pyramid of success.

“I would change the blanks to fit the job description,” Eblen said. “It taught them the importance of the fundamentals in our business and to not worry about the opposition. If they got up early, were prepared and organized, they would be successful —- just like basketball players.”

The nation’s best are featured in this week’s Sweet 16. Some will exit the NCAA tournament winners, others losers. Eblen said Wooden wouldn’t let the score dictate how players viewed themselves.

“One of the biggest things I learned was in my first year,” Eblen said. “We lost to a team we should have beaten, but they were hot. He said, ‘OK, you guys gave it your best and have nothing to be ashamed of. When we walk out of this locker room and if you see someone who didn’t see the game, they shouldn’t be able to tell if you won or lost.’ That was his message —- as long as you gave it your best. And that sunk in like crazy. There was no use moping around about it.

“There was nothing complicated about him, no hidden agendas. He’s just a very good person. He was fundamentally sound in his life and with basketball. There was nothing phony about him.”

Or Eblen. The former low-post player cherishes his Wooden days, even if it meant being UCLA’s sixth man instead of the go-to guy elsewhere.

Eblen entered UCLA as the Southern California Junior College player of the year from Chaffey, leading the nation with 23 points per game. USC was Eblen’s next destination, but a former coach pleaded with him to meet Wooden.

That was that.

“It was everything to play for him,” said Eblen, who was a UCLA freshman coach after graduating. “I could have gone to another college and been a starter and a big scorer. But it sure worked out for the best and I never regretted it.”

Those Encinitas teenagers playing for Eblen might someday say the same thing.