Rodney Wulff

HTML <h2><strong>No 36 RODNEY WULFF</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>6 feet 5 </strong><strong>inches </strong><strong>(194cm) </strong><strong>Centre/Forward</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>1968 Olympic Games</strong></h2>

HTML <p>On a wet March afternoon in 1971 the tall athletic young Aussie Rodney Wulff walked around the internal concourse of MacArthur Court in Eugene, Oregon USA(home of the Oregon Ducks Basketball team) wherehe had been a member of the basketball team for the last four years. Wulffwas about to graduate from Oregon to take up an academic scholarship to Harvard in the Graduate School of Design. On his walk hewas joined by the Oregon University Track and Field Athletics coach.The coach had several Australian Track stars on his successful squads over the years, enjoyed the Australian sense of humour and was winner of many NCAA Track and Field titles.</p>

HTML <p>As they walked he told Wulff of his intention to resign from coaching track and follow his dream of making a better running shoe that helped, not hurt his athletes.He was striving for the ultimate shoe!The coach did resign but it was not until 1972.</p>

HTML <p>His vision became a reality. Bill Bowerman and the company he co- founded to make the shoe was NIKE! Wulff states, “Bowerman was a truly inspirational man with a wonderful sense of humour”. The young Aussie would also follows his own dreams and achieve them.</p>

HTML <p>Rodney Wulff was born in Wagga Wagga, NSW on the 9th of October 1947. When he was ten years of age his family moved to Canberra.</p>

HTML <p>His father, Bill a RAAF serviceman who had been a Prisoner of War in the Second World War excelled in golf and rugby league before the War. Una, his mother was a field hockey player of some repute. Brother Gary played top grade rugby in Canberra and his sister Sandra represented the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in basketball.</p>

HTML <p>Rodney represented the ACT in schoolboy rugby and basketball and was on teams that won NSW’s Schools Championships in both sports.</p>

HTML <p>Basketball became his main focus from 1960 when he attended Lyneham High School, which had its own gymnasium (not a common thing in those days). Max Landy the PE teacher at Lyneham was a top basketball coach and he greatly influenced Rodney’s development. Max was an outstanding junior coach and coached the 1964 NSW team (which included Wulff and other ACT players) to the Australian Under 18 title.</p>

HTML <p>In 1963, 1964 and 1965 Rodney was voted the outstanding centre at the U16 and U18 National Championships. During this same period his school teams and Club team won ACT championships</p>

HTML <p>In 1965 Rodney achieved a rare feat in basketball when he played on the Under 18 and Open NSW State basketball teams. He was a member of the starting five on both those teams.Both teams reached the Finals of the National Championships. In that same year he was the leading scorer for NSW which lost narrowly to Victoria in the Final of the Under 18 National Championships. He scored a finals record (to that time) of 27 points in that game and averaged 19.3 points per game throughout the tournament.</p>

HTML <p>In 1967 Rodney was awarded a basketball scholarship to attend the University of Oregon in the USA. Oregon played in the then Pacific 8 Athletic Conferenceone of the toughest collegiate basketball competitions in the USA. The Conference included the powerhouse UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden.</p>

HTML <p>Rodney played on the Oregon Basketball Team (the “Ducks”) for four years and had a solid career. He graduated from Oregon University in 1971.</p>

HTML <p>Rodney Wulff shooting over a USC player at the famous Macarthur Court Gymnasium at the University of Oregon (University of Oregon Libraries))</p>

HTML <p>During his time in Oregon he was also able to suit up for the ACT in the South Eastern Conference (SEC) when he was home on vacation from Eugene. At one time he held the record for most points in a game in the SEC with 40 points in one game.</p>

HTML <p>In 1968 he represented the ACT in the Australian Championships held in Sydney. (ACT was now playing as a separate entity in the National Championships). The team (which also contained 1960-64 Olympian John Heard) was fourth in the Championships and Rodney was the second top scorer (23.9points per game) and rebounder (12.2pg) in the Championships.</p>

HTML <p>Rodney was a fierce competitor, great passer and excellent rebounder with a neat jump-shot and an excellent array of hook shots. He was truly a mobile skilled “big man”.</p>

HTML <p>At those1968 National Championships in Sydney he was selected to play for Australia at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games.</p>

HTML <p>The team travelled to Monterrey, Mexico for the Olympic Qualification Tournament. Unfortunately Rodney suffered a severe ankle injury and was limited with the amount of time he could play in the tournament. </p>

HTML <p>This was also unfortunate for Australia as the team’s other big man Carl Rodwell had to carry most of the load and when he was in foul trouble (as happened in the crucial first game against Poland) Rodney was unable to be on the court to fill the void. This may have had a profound effect on the team which went on to lose all their games and fail to make the Olympic Finals in Mexico City.</p>

HTML <p>Rodney completed his basketball career at Oregon in 1971 and decided to concentrate on his academic career. He was awarded scholarship to Harvard Graduate School of Design where he gained his Masters Degree. From Harvard he won a scholarship to Cornell University to complete his doctorate. He was awarded a PhD in Natural Resource Conservation in 1977. At Cornell he met and married Maryann Griffin a teaching/researcher who had gained a PhD from Brown University.</p>

HTML <p>Rodney returned to Melbourne Australia with his wife Maryann in 1977 to continue his career in landscape architecture with one of Australia’s leading firms. He and Maryann have two sons who were champion schoolboy middle distance runners. </p>

HTML <p>Rodney lives in Melbourne, continues as Director of Tract Consultants and supports the Fitzroy (now Brisbane) Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).</p>

HTML <p>Rodney Wulff was a trailblazer for ACT basketball and for Australian players to play basketball in the USA College system and as such is recognised for his contributions to Australian basketball in his era. </p>

HTML <p>Rodney Wulff (centre) with Mike Dancis (left) and John Gardiner in the change-room in Monterrey in 1968 (P. Byrne)</p>