PLEASE NOTE: Images do not do this piece justice. The metal composition and shape make it virtually impossible to photograph without glare. We assure you it still has a very shiny finish.
The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team entered the 1964-65 season fresh off the program's first ever national championship. It took John Wooden 16 seasons at UCLA to win his first NCAA title as head coach, but starting with the 1963-64 campaign, his Bruins would embark on one of the most dominant championship runs in sports history, winning 10 national titles in a 12-year span. The 1964-65 squad was led by senior guard Gail Goodrich (1st Team All-America) who averaged 24.8 points per game, senior forward Keith Ericson (12.9 ppg & 8.8 rpg) and sophomore forward Edgar Lacy (11.6 ppg & 10.2 rpg). Despite dropping the season opener, UCLA would finish with a 28–2 record, winning its final 15 contests and scoring a team-record 400 points in its four NCAA Tournament games. In the National Championship against #1-ranked Michigan, Goodrich erupted for 42 points in a 91-80 victory as the Bruins defended their title--a common theme for the Wizard of Westwood until his final season on the bench in 1974-75.
Presented here is a special trophy commemorating the Bruins' 1965 achievement presented by Kiwanis International to longtime UCLA athletic trainer Elvin “Ducky” Drake. The well-polished silver trophy is shaped like a jug and bears the words “N.C.A.A. BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS UCLA 1964-65 ELVIN DRAKE - TRAINER" with the non-profit's lovely blue enameled logo and “KIWANIS CLUB OF WESTWOOD VILLAGE" engraved below. Founded in 1915, Kiwanis is a "global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time" and raises $100 million annually. The silver-plated trophy remains in outstanding condition with light wear from handling. As the years pass, this trophy will continue to shine as a beacon of inspiration for UCLA alumni, basketball fans, and future generations of student-athletes.
During Wooden's 27-year reign at UCLA, one of this closest friends and colleagues was Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake, who served as the UCLA Athletic Department's head trainer from 1942-72. Ducky entered UCLA as a student in 1923, graduated in 1927 after competing on the men's cross country and track teams, and went on to serve his alma mater as an assistant track coach, head track and field coach (1947-64) and head athletic trainer for all sports. He became a legendary name around campus and a father figure to hundreds of student-athletes long after he retired in 1972.
Perhaps Drake's biggest individual thrill was at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome where he coached Rafer Johnson and C.K. Yang in one of the most memorable decathlon duels in history. Both were prominent UCLA student-athletes at the time, and Drake helped guide them to finish first and second on the podium. In 1973, UCLA renamed its track Drake Stadium in Ducky's honor. Drake was a charter member of the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 before passing away in 1985 at the age of 88.