It’s no great surprise that John Wooden has died. He was 99, after all, and had been in declining health for some time.

Yet, while it’s not unexpected, in a way, it is somewhat unsettling.

Wooden was a tie to a different time, with far less ambiguity and confusion, and humility was as omnipresent as was his talent for teaching.  He lived in a world which was ordered simply around faith, industry, decency and optimism.

All too often, certainly in his chosen field but for the rest of us as well, those qualities are missing or incomplete. 

That may be the reason why he became something of a touchstone for many people. He was unquestionably decent, unfailingly kind, and true to his principles.  It could be overstating the obvious to say that both Wooden and basketball saw their character formed in the Midwest.  Wooden was born just 19 years after basketball itself, and it’s fair to say that the two of them grew up together.

Over the next few days, we’re going to hear a lot from his former players, assistants and associates.  People like Bill Walton and Swen Nater will tell how he continues to influence their lives and how he was a resource for them for decades. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will talk about how Wooden appealed to him as a man who saw him not strictly as a basketball player, but also as another man, a younger man certainly, but a man nonetheless and someone inherently worthy of respect.  Jabbar didn’t get that a lot as a young man.

In an age when people are willing to debase or humiliate themselves in any number of ways, his character elevated him. A humble man, he saw himself as a teacher first and surely saw himself as a foothill in men’s lives, someone who helped them prepare for the mountains ahead, rather than as a footnote. That’s about as far as he was going to praise himself.

Yet, as his former pupils will tell us, he was so much more than that.  He became famous for coaching and was unquestionably great. Not just a little great. He was great like Secretariat or Shakespeare, so much better than anyone else at what he did that there can simply be no comparison made.

But what fueled that greatness was character. Had he ever thought he was important enough to abuse people, to be cruel to the boys on his team or unkind to his secretary because he was having a bad day or had been defeated in some manner, he never could’ve done what he did.

People believed in him because he was real and true. As simple as it sounds, that was his secret, and he never lost track of that.

Wooden was famously devoted to his wife who preceded him in death by what – 25 years? He said many times that he was not scared of death, largely because he was a man of great faith, and partly because he was certain that when he died he would be reunited with her.

That time has come and in our minds eye, we imagine her telling him that she read every love letter he had written to her since last they spoke, and that he has one more to give her.

Godspeed and God bless.