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President Bush, right, congratulates John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach, after presenting

With all the championships and awards legendary coach John Wooden has won, he never quite felt it was he who deserved the accolades. Those had always been a product of team efforts, never something he did alone.

But now, that’s finally changed.

Wooden was awarded an honor that’s all his. For his achievements, Wooden received the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom last week in Washington.

“Until now, one the highest honors I received was during my graduation from Purdue,” Wooden said. “The Big 10 gave me, as an athlete, an all-academic award. That was something I had earned on my own. More than the other things, like the championships where so many others were involved, I was proud of that because I had done it myself.”

As the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom is given annually to individuals of, “significant public or private accomplishment” and recognizes “exceptional meritorious service.” This year’s recipients included UCLA Emeritus Professor James Q. Wilson, Julia Child and Charlton Heston.

Wooden was nominated by one of his retired players, Bruin alumni Andre McCarter who had waged a three-year campaign on behalf of his former coach.

When he first received the call detailing the award he won, Wooden thought it was all a joke.

“The lady on the line was telling me how this was a high award and that I had to accept,” Wooden said. “I just told her to send me something on it in writing.

The next day a letter came by special delivery, and it was only then did he finally believe what was going on.

“I can’t express the feelings I have about it,” said the NCAA championship winning coach. “There’s no way I could feel deserving of it when there are so many others I could say over me. But it is the highest honor I’ve ever felt.”

“The most significant part of this came after visiting with the President where I realized that all this was not just from having a team that won basketball games, but that my pyramid seemed to affect many people outside the basketball community.”

Any one of the coach’s achievements – the 10 NCAA Championships, his book “Pyramid of Success” or the dozens of broken records could stand alone in importance, but yet he still sees others ahead of him who haven’t yet been recognized.

That was why McCarter had to keep the nomination campaign a secret from him. Had Wooden known about the hundreds of letters from old friends, players and family, describing his significance to each of them, the iconoclast coach said he would have stopped it.

“I don’t think I am worthy above so many others,” Wooden said.

But from the many letters and non-stop phone calls he received last week from across the country, people seem to think he is worthy.