John R. Wooden Award Foundation

Kenny Booker is a former UCLA basketball standout who contributed to two NCAA National Championship teams under Coach John Wooden. A longtime Southern California real estate professional and high school basketball official, Booker brings decades of experience applying Coach Wooden's principles in athletics, business, and community settings. He has taught the Pyramid of Success in schools and youth environments for more than forty years, giving him unusual practical experience translating Wooden's ideas for young people. Through his long service as a high school basketball official in the Los Angeles and Long Beach areas, Booker is deeply connected to local coaches, schools, athletic departments, and youth programs. His presence on the presenter team provides credibility with students, coaches, and administrators and reinforces the connection between competitive performance, character, sportsmanship, and personal responsibility.

Denise Curry is one of the greatest players in UCLA basketball history, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and a member of multiple Halls of Fame. Her relationship with Coach John Wooden began when she attended his basketball camps as a youngster, an experience that helped ignite her passion for the game and introduced her to his principles of character. Curry later led UCLA to the 1978 AIAW National Championship and remains the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in UCLA basketball history. Her #12 jersey was retired alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. She won an Olympic Gold Medal with Team USA in 1984 and went on to play professionally in Europe before building a distinguished coaching career at the collegiate and professional levels. Curry brings elite competitive experience, teaching ability, and a direct connection to Coach Wooden's influence on young athletes.

Sue Enquist is a UCLA Athletics Hall of Famer, 11-time national champion, and one of the most respected leaders in collegiate sports history. Across 31 years with UCLA Softball as a player, assistant coach, and head coach, she helped build one of the great dynasties in women's athletics. She was UCLA's first softball All-American and became the winningest coach in NCAA softball history with an extraordinary .835 winning percentage. Enquist also had a deeply personal relationship with Coach Wooden, often being described within the UCLA community as like another daughter to him and affectionately referring to him as “Papa.” Today she continues to carry his leadership principles forward as a professor in UCLA's Transformative Coaching and Leadership program and as a culture consultant. Her experience connects Wooden's philosophy to championship culture, leadership, preparation, and human potential.

Larry Farmer is a former UCLA Head Men's Basketball Coach and standout player under Coach John Wooden. As a Bruin, he contributed to three NCAA National Championship teams and completed his UCLA playing career with an 89-1 record. Farmer has spent a lifetime teaching, coaching, mentoring, and carrying forward lessons learned directly from Coach Wooden. He is the author of the memoir Role of a Lifetime and continues to coach and develop young athletes. Based in the Chicago area, Farmer brings both championship credibility and active regional connections within high school basketball and scholastic athletics. His presence on the presenter network allows the program to extend beyond Southern California while maintaining an authentic connection to Coach Wooden's UCLA legacy, his standards of preparation, and his expectations for character-driven competitive excellence.

Tony Fuller is a former NBA player, accomplished coach, and longtime personal mentee of Coach John Wooden. His coaching career includes service as an assistant coach at UCLA and Stanford, head basketball coach at San Diego State and Pepperdine, and varsity head coach at Brophy College Preparatory. Fuller has more than forty years of character education, coaching, and leadership experience, and he has worked closely with Craig Impelman for decades in teaching Coach Wooden's principles. Through his years in college basketball and secondary education, he has developed deep experience helping young people connect personal character to performance, teamwork, and leadership. Based in the Phoenix and Southwest region, Fuller brings strong school connections and a rare combination of professional playing experience, elite coaching background, teaching skill, and personal association with Coach Wooden's philosophy.

Karen Givvin brings an important academic and research perspective to the JRWAF Character, Sports and Life Program. She earned both her bachelor's degree and Ph.D. from UCLA and has served on the UCLA faculty since 2011. Givvin regularly teaches courses in psychology and education and has developed multiple university courses focused specifically on the philosophies and teaching methods of Coach John Wooden.

Her courses have included a UCLA Fiat Lux freshman seminar, an Honors College colloquium, and a graduate course within UCLA's Transformative Coaching and Leadership program. Through these programs, she helps students connect Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success and definition of success to contemporary research in educational psychology, sport psychology, leadership, and human development.

Together with renowned researcher Ronald Gallimore, Givvin has published research suggesting that Coach Wooden's teaching methods closely align with what modern educators describe as deliberate practice. Her work provides an important bridge between Coach Wooden's timeless principles and current academic research, helping demonstrate the continuing relevance of his ideas in education, leadership, and performance development.

Debbie Haliday is a former UCLA student-athlete, coach, educator, and Executive Director of The WEST Project. As a UCLA athlete from 1977 to 1981, she knew Coach Wooden personally; he often attended women's basketball practices and helped her with both her shot and her confidence. Later, when Haliday coached at Biola University, Coach Wooden spent two hours with her team in the Hall of Fame, an experience she and her players never forgot. Haliday went on to coach girls' high school basketball for 25 years, serve as a K-12 athletic director, direct Southern California FCA camps, and serve as UCLA Women's Basketball Program Director from 2013 to 2019. As a UCLA athlete, she competed in both basketball and softball and earned national championships in both sports in 1978. Her work now focuses on culture, communication, service, teams, and leadership.

Greg Hayes is a former UCLA assistant basketball coach, educator, author, and longtime teacher of Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success. Hayes worked directly alongside Coach Wooden at his summer youth basketball camps for 12 consecutive years and has spent decades presenting the Pyramid to students, athletes, coaches, and organizations. He is the author of four books, including Camp with Coach Wooden, and brings a deep understanding of Coach Wooden's teaching style, values, and practical lessons for young people. Hayes is especially connected throughout the Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, San Fernando Valley, and broader Southern California school and youth sports communities. His combination of camp experience, coaching background, authorship, and direct work with Coach Wooden makes him a valuable presenter for schools and youth programs seeking an authentic introduction to the Pyramid.

Mary Hegarty is Associate Dean of Athletics at Santa Ana College and a highly respected athletic administrator, coach, and former UCLA student-athlete. Under her leadership, Santa Ana College teams have achieved conference championships in multiple sports and baseball state championships in 2023 and 2026. Hegarty has served in major leadership roles within the California Community College Athletic Association, including work connected to wrestling, gender equity, women's basketball, and scholar-team recognition. She brings more than 25 years of women's basketball coaching experience at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels, including service as an assistant coach at UCLA, head coach at Chapman University, and head coach at Long Beach State, where she earned Big West Coach of the Year honors. As a UCLA player, she remains among the program's all-time leaders in assists. Her background connects athletics, education, leadership, and student development.

Craig Impelman is the Principal of Wooden's Wisdom, a board member of the John R. Wooden Award Foundation, and the architect of the JRWAF Character, Sports and Life Program. As Coach Wooden's grandson-in-law, Impelman spent more than three decades learning directly from Coach Wooden and has devoted much of his professional life to preserving, organizing, teaching, and expanding access to his principles. He has applied the Pyramid of Success through 30 years of youth basketball coaching, 12 years of college coaching, 20 years of business leadership training, and years of research and authorship through Wooden's Wisdom. He developed the Digital Pyramid concept, the program curriculum, the QR-code learning system, and the initial pilot structure. Impelman will personally deliver the Fall 2026 SRLA pilot presentations and use the results to refine the program before broader rollout.

“Nobody in our family has a better understanding of the ideas and philosophy of my father than Craig Impelman.” - Nan Wooden

“I've always said that you were the one to pass on Dad's teaching. You know Dad's Pyramid better than anyone. You have that quality and spirit that makes people of all ages listen. You are a TEACHER.” - Jim Wooden

Brian Lowenthal is a Certified Wooden Way Coach and educator who has spent recent years embedding the Pyramid of Success into school environments in Nashville. His work has focused on helping students, teachers, and school leaders understand and apply Coach Wooden's principles in practical educational settings. Lowenthal brings experience translating the Pyramid into school culture, student leadership, classroom conversations, and character-development activities. His Nashville work provides the presenter network with an important example of how the Character, Sports and Life Program can expand beyond Southern California through committed regional educators. He is actively collaborating to scale the curriculum and will provide valuable perspective on implementation, school relationships, and long-term adoption. Lowenthal's background strengthens the program's national reach and supports the larger goal of making Coach Wooden's teachings accessible to students across the country.

Natasha Watley is one of the most accomplished players in softball history. A four-time First Team NFCA All-American at UCLA, she helped lead the Bruins to the 2003 NCAA championship and received the Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation’s top female collegiate athlete. She represented Team USA in two Olympic Games, winning a gold medal in 2004 and a silver medal in 2008, and earned numerous World Championship, World Cup and Pan American titles. Following a distinguished professional career in the United States and Japan, she was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.

As Founder and CEO of the Natasha Watley Foundation, Natasha uses softball to help girls from underserved communities develop confidence, character, teamwork and leadership skills. Her experience as an elite athlete, coach, motivational speaker and youth mentor enables her to translate the lessons of high-level competition into practical guidance for people of all ages. Natasha’s warmth, authenticity, disciplined approach and ability to connect with others make her an engaging instructor and inspirational role model who teaches not only how to succeed, but also how to lead and lift others along the way.