Wooden Classic Champions

Wooden Classic Champions

Full list of Wooden Classic champions, including head coach, by year. The John R. Wooden Classic was an early season Division I men’s college basketball event that was held annually in December from 1994 through 2012. The event is named after Hall of Fame UCLA head coach John Wooden. For much of its run, the event was a double-header that featuring four high- or mid-major teams. For the final two years, only one game was played. Games were hosted at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

In 2013, the event merged with the DirecTV Classic (also held in Anaheim) to form the new Wooden Legacy early season tournament.

Year Champion Head Coach
1994 Kansas Roy Williams
UCLA Jim Harrick
1995 Villanova Steve Lappas
UCLA (2) Jim Harrick (2)
1996 Arizona Lute Olson
Louisville Denny Crum
1997 UCLA (3) Steve Lavin
Stanford Mike Montgomery
1998 Kansas (2) Roy Williams (2)
UCLA (4) Steve Lavin (2)
1999 Stanford (2) Mike Montgomery (2)
Duke Mike Krzyzewski
2000 USC Henry Bibby
Georgia Tech Paul Hewitt
2001 Arizona (2) Lute Olson (2)
UCLA (5) Steve Lavin (3)
2002 Georgia Jim Harrick (3)
Missouri Quin Snyder
2003 Stanford (3) Mike Montgomery (3)
Kentucky Tubby Smith
2004 Arizona (3) Lute Olson (3)
Boston College Al Skinner
2005 Washington Lorenzo Romar
UCLA (6) Ben Howland
2006 UCLA (7) Ben Howland (2)
USC (2) Tim Floyd
2007 Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett
UCLA (8) Ben Howland (3)
2008 Saint Mary’s (2) Randy Bennett (2)
UCLA (9) Ben Howland (4)
2009 Georgetown John Thompson III
Mississippi State Rick Stansbury
2010 Saint Mary’s (3) Randy Bennett (3)
UCLA (10) Ben Howland (5)
2012* UCLA (11) Ben Howland (6)
2012 San Diego State Steve Fisher

* the 2011-12 season event took place in January 2012

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