Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden to receive commemorative stamp

One of the most accomplished coaches in sporting history will be remembered by the United States Postal Service when a new commemorative stamp is released next year.

John Wooden, who led the UCLA men’s basketball program to 10 national championships and a record-breaking 88 straight wins, will grace a new Forever stamp that will go on sale in early 2024.

Wooden, who died in 2010 at the age of 99, left an “indelible mark on the university, the sport and a generation of student athletes,” UCLA said in a news release.

The stamp depicts Wooden courtside in the early 1970s, watching the game from the sideline and wearing a pinstriped suit, patterned tie and black-framed glasses.

In the background, a player defends a shot attempt, with each jersey number representing milestones in UCLA’s basketball history.

One player wears the number 4 in honor of the four undefeated seasons underneath Wooden, while the other wears the number 10 in honor of the school’s men’s basketball championship titles.

A total of 18 million of the commemorative stamps will go on sale, UCLA and USPS officials say.

“This stamp is a tribute to Coach Wooden’s remarkable and widespread impact, which extends far beyond UCLA and far beyond basketball,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “His success on the court was unparalleled, and he remains a model of integrity and excellence in athletics.”

USPS commemorative stamps are created to honor “extraordinary and enduring contributions to American society, history, culture or environment.”

Wooden was known as a leader of men on and off the court, a trailblazer who broke racial barriers in college sports, and one of the most influential and inspiring mentors of his time. The “Pyramid of Success,” which explains his principles of leadership and motivational philosophy, remain a common motivational tool even decades after its creation.

The “Wizard of Westwood” received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003, was twice named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and had a post office in Reseda named after him in 2006.

His name and likeness live on across the UCLA campus on the sides of buildings and training facilities, in the record books and annals of sports history, and now as a USPS Forever stamp.

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