''Wooden's Legacy'' is a public artwork by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

artist Jeffrey Rouse that is located on the west corner of Georgia and Meridian Streets, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, which was unveiled on March 9, 2012, depicts Indiana-born college basketball coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

in a crouching position in the act of coaching. He is surrounded by five basketball players represented as sets of legs, each in a style that depicts an era from Wooden's career. On and around the base are words and quotes that define Wooden's coaching philosophy, including his "Pyramid of Success".

Description

The sculpture depicts coach John Wooden crouching on an over sized basketball, holding a rolled up set of papers in his left hand and gesturing with his right hand. His mouth is open as he faces east towards

Gainbridge Fieldhouse Gainbridge Fieldhouse is an indoor arena located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It opened in November 1999 to replace Market Square Arena. The arena is the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

, the city's largest basketball arena. Wooden was born in

Hall, Indiana Hall is an unincorporated community in Gregg Township, Morgan County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. History Hall was laid out in 1861. A post office was established at Hall in 1854, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1966. ...

, played basketball at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, and then later took his first college coaching position at Indiana State Teachers College, which is now called

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

. Surrounding Wooden are five players idealized as sets of men's legs, each wearing basketball shoes and socks that are representative of pivotal years in Wooden's career. Each shoe is made to look like the year it was worn and is marked on the back quarter with a year or word: "1930" - The year Wooden received his first All-American honor as a player at Purdue
"1946" - The year he began his coaching career at the Indiana Teacher's College (now

)
"1964" - The year he won his first NCAA championship and was named Coach of the Year at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

"1975" - His last of year coaching and his final and 10th NCAA championship
"Beyond" - A shoe from today indicating his ongoing legacy The sculpture rests on a concrete base that has words associated with Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" surrounding the upper area. To the lower side there is a famous quote by Wooden:

Historical information

The sculpture was unveiled on March 9, 2012, as a gift from the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee to the City of Indianapolis. It was placed on the renovated Georgia Street, which had been made into an entertainment-centered area that was used extensively during the

2012 Super Bowl Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

, which was held at

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). It opened on August ...

Critical reception

Shortly after the piece was unveiled, local news sources began to consider the artwork.

Bill Littlefield William Littlefield (born July 1948) is an American radio personality and sportswriter. He was the host of National Public Radio and WBUR's Only A Game program from its beginning in 1993 to July 2018, covering mainstream and offbeat United States ...

of National Public Radio's '' Only A Game'' wrote about the artwork after a visit to Indianapolis and Indianapolis newspapers later considered the merits of the artwork. Wooden's grandson, Craig Impleman, celebrated the artwork by saying, "When viewing the statue my expectations were met and exceeded."

Artist

Jeffrey Rouse is an Indiana-born and New York City-based sculptor who also has a dental practice with offices in both

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and Hicksville.

References

External links

''Wooden's Legacy'' on Indianapolis Downtown Inc.'s web page
{{Monuments in Indianapolis, state=collapsed 2012 establishments in Indiana 2012 sculptures Basketball sculptures Bronze sculptures in Indiana Monuments and memorials in Indianapolis Outdoor sculptures in Indianapolis Sculptures of men in Indiana Statues in Indianapolis Statues of sportspeople in the United States