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Smearing John Wooden w/o Accountability

We will get back to recruiting early tomorrow am (as well as update the thread below if there is any more breaking news). For now, we want to bring your attention something important. We are all familiar with Jason Whitlock here on Bruins Nation. He was one of the first national columnists who got the story right on Karl Dorrell. We gave Jason due credit for poignant observations on that article. Well, that was a while ago. We are doing what we can to transition and put those days behind us.

Unfortunately though, Mr. Whitlock has waded into matters relating to BN in a very inauspicious way. We just stumbled into a new Whitlock column published in the Kansas City Star wrt retirement of Bobby Knight, in which Jason throws out unsupported allegations against Coach Wooden:

So I've always had a great deal of respect for Bobby Knight, the best basketball coach America ever produced.

John Wooden fans are probably offended by that description of Knight. So!?!

UCLA boosters purchased the most teenage basketball talent in the land, and Wooden molded that talent into a national-title-winning machine. Good for him. He deserves all the accolades he receives.
Let's leave aside the claim of Bobby Knight being the best basketball coach this country has ever produced. I have no interest in getting into that argument. I don't think we need to argue about the immortality of Coach as the greatest in this game and his place in American sports lore. We have a Super Bowl champion head coach who is happy to offer himself as a validator for JRW's greatness.

What I want to know exactly what is the basis of Whitlock's assertions that UCLA boosters "purchased" basketball talent for Coach Wooden. Because if he referring to Sam Gilbert BS, we have thoroughly discussed and eviscerated that nonsense here, here, and here.

So I would urge everyone who is reading this post to calmly, politely and respectfully ask Mr. Whitlock to offer fact based information to back up his assertion by emailing him at jwhitlock@kcstar.com and post your email to him in the comments section of his column here. If he cannot back up this smear he should be honest enough to retract those absurd smear against Coach Wooden in a subsequent article or a public email that we can share with everyone on Bruins Nation.

We just cannot let people smear Coach Wooden based on allegations without any facts or substance. There has to be some modicum of accountability.

GO BRUINS.