Bob Bender out at Washington
John Wooden’s legacy to the Pac-10 should be noted
By: Richard Linde, 20 March 2002

What did John Wooden (UCLA, 1948-1975, 626-149) and Bob Bender, Washington’s men’s basketball coach, have in common? Answer: At approximately the same points in their coaching careers, neither had won an NCAA championship, and both of their teams were about to enter new, on-campus basketball facilities. In Wooden’s case, the new facility was Pauley Pavilion, which opened in June of 1965. In Bender’s case, it involved the $42 million remodeling of 72-year old Edmundson Pavilion, which back in March 2000 was in its 11th month of an 18-month renovation project.

During Pauley Pavilion’s construction and after it was opened, Wooden won 10 out of 12 NCAA championships (1964-1975), winning 149 out of the 151 games played at Pauley Pavilion. Of course, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton had something to say about Wooden’s performance at Pauley, but would they have gone to UCLA without Pauley Pavilion in place? During their run at Pauley Pavilion, the team of Wooden and “Lewis,” as Wooden affectionately called Alcindor, literally took the slam-dunk out of college basketball--until the NCAA figured out a way to lower the basket for everyone else.

For Bob Bender, 44, and his new digs, the result was not the same. Unlike the Wizard of Westwood, the beleaguered Bender was never able to morph himself into the “Magician of Montlake.”  During the past three seasons, all losing ones, his teams went 31-58. This season, his team (11-18) made it to the Pac-10 tournament, only to lose to Oregon in the first round.

Bender took over at Washington April 9, 1993. The Dawgs had six consecutive losing seasons before Bender turned things around, taking his teams to the NIT two seasons in a row, in his third and fourth seasons at Washington. In his fifth season at Washington (1997/98), Bender led the Huskies to the “Big Dance,” their first appearance at that event since 1986; his team fell one basket short of reaching the “Elite Eight, ” losing to Connecticut 75-74. After the 1997/98 season, Virginia and Texas courted Bender for their head coaching jobs. His last winning season was in 1998/99 when his team won 17 and lost 12.

Overall, Bender coached nine seasons at Washington, winning 116 games and losing 142. In Pac-10 play, his teams won 66 games and lost 99.

John Wooden’s legacy should be noted. He raised the hoop to an incredible height for coaches in this conference, and winning in it will require a Woodenesque effort on the part of Washington's new basketball coach--for arguably, the Huskies play in the toughest league in college basketball. This past season, six of the conferences schools (California, Stanford, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, and USC) went to the NCAA tournament. Three of them (Oregon, UCLA and Arizona) made it to the sweet sixteen. One of them could make it to the Elite Eight or possibly the Final Four.  

Bender's successor will not have it easy.