By W.G. Ramirez
The Sporting Tribune
The John R. Wooden Award will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary this season. Leading up to the award ceremony on April 10, 2026, The Sporting Tribune in partnership with the Wooden Award and the Los Angeles Athletic Club will highlight past winners of the Wooden Award and the Legends of Coaching Award.
If there were ever a player whose game was perfectly optimized for the college level, especially at Duke, it was J.J. Redick.
The 2006 Wooden Award winner was the complete package, whether he offered elite and relentless shooting, constant off-ball movement, or just bringing a mental toughness to the Blue Devils.
Redick, currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, was the epitome of what makes a pure shooter, as he was historically great.
His lightning-quick release made him dangerous every time he handled the basketball, especially considering his unlimited range.
Redick became known as someone who would be deadly coming off pin-downs, flares, and handoffs, as most college defenses weren’t equipped to chase someone nonstop for 40 minutes.
And when they made a mistake defending him, it oftentimes resulted in a 3-pointer.
But what separated Redick from most scorers was how hard he worked without the ball. He never stopped running and had a knack for changing speeds and angles constantly, which forced defenders into exhaustion and mental errors.
It proved to be an unthinkable challenge in college, where defenders weren’t as disciplined or conditioned as pros.
Redick never wilted when playing in hostile arenas every night and rather than becoming rattled, he thrived on being hated. Opposing fans targeted him relentlessly, even taking personal shots at him and his family, but he embraced the villain role instead of shriveling into a submissive state.
Instead, his biggest shots felt inevitable because he took them with confidence, with an expectation to make every single one. It was a rare psychological edge, especially for a college player, that Redick held every time he took the court.
It’s those components that made Redick – who had a green light to shoot without hesitation – a perfect fit in Duke’s system, and inspired coach Mike Krzyzewski to build an offense that maximized Redick’s strengths.
The Blue Devils operated with structured sets to free Redick off screens, and his teammates learned about spacing and timing, all regarding their star guard.
By the time his senior year rolled around, Redick wasn’t just a shooter; he was a better ball handler because of the defenses he drew, he became a smarter passer simply because of the pressure he faced, and he learned about finishing physically at the rim.
Gaining needed experience, his maturity strengthened while staying at Duke all four years, mastering the college game, while increasing his basketball IQ in terms of his understanding of defenses.
His leadership and confidence that younger stars didn’t have were early sign why he would turn into one of the bright young minds on the NBA sidelines, where he now paces nightly for one of the most storied franchises.
When you think of older and skilled players who dominate college basketball, Redick was one of the best examples because his skill set punished the exact weaknesses of opponents, and he had the discipline and confidence to do it night after night.
J.J. Redick wasn’t just talented, he was deliberate because he wasn’t asked to be something he wasn’t, he was simply asked to be the best version of himself.