Gail Goodrich returns to where it all started -- Madison Middle School

Gail Goodrich has received many honors for his days as a basketball player in Southern California. Each team he played for — Sun Valley Poly, UCLA and the Lakers — retired his jersey. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.

But on Friday morning, the 73-year-old now living in Idaho returned to the place it all started — Madison Middle School in North Hollywood, where he enrolled when the school opened in 1956. On its 60th anniversary, the school named its gym the Gail Goodrich Sports Center.

“Wow, it really doesn’t get any better than this,” Goodrich told the gathering of family, students, faculty and representatives from UCLA and the Lakers. James Worthy was there. The Laker Girls dropped by. And Goodrich was moved by the memories of the past.

“This is coming home,” he said. “It’s been a long, long time.”

He talked about his journey. He graduated from Madison at 5 feet 1, 99 pounds. He developed into the City Section player of the year, scoring 29 points in the 1961 City final to lead Poly to the championship. He was a standout on John Wooden’s first two NCAA championship teams at UCLA. He was a standout for the best team in Lakers history, 1971-72, when the Lakers won 33 games in a row and finished as NBA champions.

“First, you got to have dreams,” he said when asked for lessons learned. “You got be passionate. You got to love the game. I gave 100% effort every time I walked out on the court.”

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