“Los Angeles sports legend” is the most appropriate way to describe the contributions of Gail Goodrich, who returned to Southern California on Friday an 82-year-old full of grit and humility after his alma mater, Sun Valley Poly High, named its gym the Gail Goodrich Athletic Complex.
“This is where it all started,” Goodrich said. “I have great memories here. I'm really nervous about them naming a gym after me. I've had great coaches. I've had great teammates. I've always looked to the future. Today is a day to remember and look back.”
There are few people in the history of sports who have achieved what he achieved in his hometown, becoming an outstanding basketball player. He led Poly to the City championship over Manual Arts in 1961, helped UCLA win two NCAA titles under coach John Wooden, including a career-high 42 points in the 1965 Finals, and won the NBA title as the Lakers' leading scorer in 1971-72 on a team that had a 33-game winning streak and included future Hall of Famers Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain.
In the 1961 title game, Goodrich suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter. He came back and dominated the fourth quarter, finishing with 29 points. He played the game on Wednesday, graduated on Friday and was at UCLA that Monday.
Four of Goodrich's high school teammates attended Friday's ceremony.including center Ernie Brandt, who said, “I'm the guy who passed the ball to him all the time.”
It was the second gym naming ceremony for Goodrich, who traveled from his home in Idaho in 2015 to see Madison High School in North Hollywood name its gym Gail Goodrich Sports Center.
He graduated from Madison at 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 99 pounds. At Poly, by his senior year, he was about 6 feet tall. He was known for his accurate left-handed hitting. He remembered how his father built a basket at home and practiced until night.
“I lived in the Poly gym. I became a gym rat. The gym became my second home,” he said.
He helped start the Wooden basketball dynasty at UCLA, which led to 10 titles in 12 years. Assistant coach Jerry Norman was one of the few recruiters to take notice of him in high school and was at Poly on Friday. Goodrich was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.
In 2014 Goodrich wrote about Wooden: “He never talked about winning. He talked about being successful and being able to look in the mirror at the end of the day. If you do the best you can, that's all you can ask for.”
Paulie opened her gym two seasons ago. Officials have sought recommendations for allocating a gymnasium. Polytechnic coach Joe Wyatt said there was no need for a debate.
“I said, 'Gail Goodrich.' It's easy. It’s wonderful,” Wyatt said.
“As a friend told me, ‘I reached the top of the mountain for my craft,’” Goodrich told the Polytechnic students who filled the stands. “Yes, you will hit roadblocks and get knocked down. Sometimes you will have to take three steps back, but find your mountain and don't let anyone tell you you can't do it.”
