Four IMG divisions have aligned for an initiative with the family of college basketball legend John Wooden to create educational programs for college coaches across the country.
"IMG College has emerged as a leader in sponsorship, media rights, licensing and ticketing within the college space," says Ben Sutton, president, IMG College. "This new alliance with the Wooden family introduces a coaching leadership and character-building element to our suite of offerings for our college partners."
IMG Academies, IMG Licensing, IMG College and IMG Coaches have joined together to create a customized leadership program inspired by the teachings of the late coach.
"I call John Wooden a great philosopher because I find his teachings to be timeless," says Tom Coughlin, two-time Super Bowl winning head coach of the New York Giants. "Coach Wooden taught that we should 'learn as if we were going to live forever and live as if we were going to die tomorrow.' He did not speak to his teams about 'winning,' but instead preached effort–total effort–to be the best you were capable of, and the value of being a successful team member."
Various high profile coaches, from the professional and college arenas, have already pledged support and expressed interest in being guest instructors, including New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin; University of California men's basketball head coach Mike Montgomery; and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.
Wooden had a 29-year-long career in college basketball. He spent most of that time at UCLA where his team won 10 NCAA national championships in 12 years. Annually, the John R. Wooden Award is given to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players in the country.
"Many times the path to student-athlete excellence begins with the coach,” says Bernard Franklin, NCAA executive vice president of membership and student-athlete affairs, NCAA. “We're proud to support IMG's leadership programming, which also furthers the legacy of John Wooden, who was a leader, an educator and one of the greatest coaches in the history of intercollegiate athletics."