The Pyramid Principle
The Pyramid Success
Greg George: “I don’t feel that you’re ready to leave the world yet, you have too much to accomplish and more to affect the world of cancer by living, rather than dying, and joining Erin.”
“If you are who you say you are, I'd like some of that.” — prayer by John Vallely
“Jesus please come into my life. I'm giving my life over to you.” — prayer by John Vallely
“Daddy, please pray for me!” — Erin Vallely before first cancer surgery
“God, where are you and why are we alone in this?” — prayer of John Vallely over Erin's cancer
“Please help me!” — Erin Vallely during intense pain of 2nd round of cancer.
“God is my hero. He prays for me all the time.” — 11-year-old Erin on card to her oncologist.
Coach Wetzel
Wetzel coached Orange Coast basketball players like John Vallely and Bruce Chapman, and volleyball standouts like Steve Timmons and Brian Lewis, going 231-61 (a .791 winning percentage) in 11 volleyball seasons and 58-38 (.604) in three years as the Pirates' basketball coach, which was during the height of the program's throne in terms of the gym rocking and points flowing.
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Coach Jerry Norman
Jerry Norman coached at UCLA from the fall of 1959 to the spring of 1968. He was the driving force behind the UCLA basketball dynasty.
Learn MoreOrange Coast College
Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, certificates of achievement, and lower-division classes transferable to other colleges and universities. The college enrolls approximately 24,000 undergraduate students. In terms of population size, Orange Coast College is the third-largest college in Orange County.
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Curtis Rowe
At UCLA, he was a member of three national championship teams coached by John Wooden: 1969, 1970, and 1971. He was one of only 4 players to have started on 3 NCAA championship teams; the others were all teammates at UCLA: Lew Alcindor, Henry Bibby, and Lynn Shackelford.
In 1993, Rowe was inducted to the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
Learn MoreDenny Crum
A teacher and a motivator, low-key Denny Crum annually built collegiate teams that played their best basketball at tournament time. Crum started coaching at UCLA as an assistant under John Wooden for three NCAA titles. Known as “Cool Hand Luke” for his calm and cool demeanor, Crum patrolled the sidelines at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001 creating a college program that dominated the 1980s. Crum guided the Cardinals to six NCAA Final Four appearances (1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986) and led Louisville to the 1980 and 1986 national championships.
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Gary Cunningham
Cunningham played basketball at UCLA on the varsity team from 1960 to 1962. He played in the first Final Four appearance for the Bruins in the 1962 NCAA tournament. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on March 19, 1962. Cunningham was selected by the Cincinnati Royals in the seventh round as the 58th pick of the 1962 NBA draft.
Learn MoreWalt Hazzard, Gail Goodrich, Lucius Allen, and Keith Erickson
Ron Von Hagen
Von Hagen was a multi-sport star at Harvard Academy in Los Angeles, but didn't discover volleyball until his senior year at UCLA. Once he found the sport he loved, Von Hagen attacked it with a single-minded devotion that hasn't been seen since. Von Hagen won his first Open at Laguna Beach in 1964. From 1964 to 1978, he played in around 120 tournaments and won 62 of them. Think about that for a second. He won half of every single tournament he entered. No other modern male beach athlete has come close to that winning percentage and you can pretty much bank on it that no one will in the future.
Learn MoreGreg Lee
Gregory Scott Lee (December 12, 1951 – September 21, 2022) was an American professional basketball and volleyball player. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning back-to-back national championships as their starting point guard in 1972 and 1973. He had short stints in the original American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) before playing four seasons in West Germany. As a volleyball player, Lee teamed with Jim Menges to set a record with 13 consecutive professional beach volleyball titles. He was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Association's (CBVA) hall of fame.
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Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978 and elected to the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams.
Learn MoreLynn Shackelford
A 6’5″ forward, Shackelford played college basketball at UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden. He was one of only 4 players to have started on 3 NCAA championship teams (’67’, ’68’, ’69’). The others are Lew Alcindor, Curtis Rowe, and Henry Bibby. He complemented his teammates as a dead eye pure shooter; most of his shots would be 3 pointers today.
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