\u201cLos Angeles sports legend\u201d is the most appropriate way to describe the contributions of Gail Goodrich, who returned to Southern California on Friday as an 82-year-old full of stamina and humbleness after his alma mater, Sun Valley Poly High, named its gymnasium the Gail Goodrich Sports Complex. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where it all started,\u201d Goodrich said. \u201cI have great memories here. I\u2019m emotional that they\u2019re going to name the gym after me. I had great coaches. I had great teammates. I\u2019ve been one to always look to the future. Today is a day to recall and look back.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are few individuals in sports history who achieved what he accomplished in his hometown as a basketball standout. He led Poly to the City championship over Manual Arts in 1961, helped UCLA win two NCAA titles under coach John Wooden, including a record-setting 42-point performance in the 1965 final, and won an NBA title as the Lakers\u2019 leading scorer in 1971-72 on a team that had a 33-game winning streak and featured fellow future Hall of Famers Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. <\/p>\n
Gail Goodrich scored 29 points in 1961 City final for Poly High. He scored 42 points for UCLA in 1965 NCAA final. He led the Lakers in scoring during the NBA championship year of 1971-72. Los Angeles sports legend. 82 years old and humble as ever. pic.twitter.com\/zr8ddI3O9e<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) November 7, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n In the 1961 title game, Goodrich suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter. He came back to dominate the fourth quarter, finishing with 29 points. He played the game on a Wednesday, graduated on a Friday and was at UCLA that Monday. <\/p>\n Four of Goodrich\u2019s high school teammates attended Friday\u2019s ceremony<\/a>, including center Ernie Brandt, who said, \u201cI\u2019m the guy who passed the ball to him all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n This was the second gym-naming ceremony for Goodrich, who traveled from his home in Idaho in 2015 to see Madison Middle School in North Hollywood name its gym the Gail Goodrich Sports Center.<\/a> <\/p>\n He graduated from Madison at 5 feet 2 and 99 pounds. At Poly, by his senior year, he was nearing 6 feet tall. He was known for his accurate left-handed shooting touch. He recalled how his father built a basket at home and he practiced into the night. <\/p>\n \u201cI lived at the Poly gym. I became a gym rat. The gym became my second home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He helped launch Wooden\u2019s UCLA basketball dynasty that would lead to 10 titles in 12 years. Assistant coach Jerry Norman was one of the few recruiters to pay attention to him in high school and was at Poly on Friday. Goodrich was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. <\/p>\n