Former UCLA coach John Wooden was hospitalized on Friday following a fall in his condo Thursday night that left him with a broken collarbone and a hairline fracture on his wrist.
The 97-year-old former coach spent the entire weekend in the hospital, but is doing well, according to his daughter, Nan Muehlhausen.
“Dad is doing well and his vital signs are good,” Muehlhausen said on Sunday. “They had to cut open the cast on his left arm because of some swelling, but the doctors had said that might happen, and they will recast him before he leaves the hospital.”
Wooden, until this year, still frequently attended UCLA basketball games, sitting right behind the UCLA bench. But this season, Wooden has been mostly absent, and at the request of his family, has no longer been made available for autographs at the games he does attend.
Muehlhausen also said that Wooden would remain in the hospital for a few more days, but that the doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
“Dad has had a couple of blood transfusions because the doctors found he was anemic, but the transfusions will take care of that and Dad will be fine,” Muehlhausen said on Saturday.
Wooden’s left wrist is in a cast and his arm will be in a sling when he leaves the hospital, according to a UCLA release sent out on Sunday.
The name of the hospital has been withheld so as to allow Wooden to rest comfortably.
Wooden was the UCLA basketball coach from 1948 to 1976, and won 10 national championships from 1964 to 1975. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, and was the first person honored as both.
In recent years, Wooden has begun to suffer from some health problems. When UCLA made it to the Final Four in 2006, Wooden was unable to attend because of a bout with diverticulitis.
In April 2007, Wooden was hospitalized with bleeding in the colon.
Earlier this year, Wooden spoke to UCLA athletes at an event at Pauley Pavilion, where he displayed tremendous mental acuity for someone of his age, reciting poetry and stories from throughout his life.
Muehlhausen requested that people do not attempt to call or visit the hospital.