The real story

When Jerry Crowe contacted me for his [March 19] article, giving some well deserved credit to Jerry Norman for UCLA’s remarkable string of NCAA basketball championships, he asked me a leading question, along the lines of, “I hear that Jerry is bitter about his treatment by Wooden.” I responded that I had never heard Jerry say anything negative about Coach Wooden, so that would be news to me.

Mr. Crowe omitted what I said about Jerry as an upbeat, optimistic man entirely without ego, so positive about his UCLA days and his relationship with Coach Wooden (a man he clearly admires and respects, as do I) that he partners with former teammate Eddie Sheldrake to put on the annual UCLA basketball reunion.

H. ANTHONY MEDLEY

Marina del Rey

(Medley is the author of “UCLA Basketball: The Real Story”)

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J.A. Adande writes that Baron Davis thinks that something has to be done to increase the number of non-athlete black students at UCLA. On the same day, the L.A. Times reports that a private group led by several prominent alumni has raised $1.75 million to bankroll scholarships for black freshmen at UCLA. That article names several of the major contributors ($100,000 or more) to the scholarship fund, but Baron Davis was not among them despite his $15-million salary this season. Perhaps Adande should have asked why.

GERRY SWIDER

Sherman Oaks