BY STEVE LAVIN

UCLA's tradition of combining academic and athletic excellence is the best in the country. UCLA attracts high achievers throughout the world. It is inspiring that at Pauley Pavilion and the Rose Bowl, we honor Nobel Prize winners at halftime. My coaching staff and I view our work as a complementary component of the university's commitment to excellence in teaching, service, research and athletics. We share common values and standards that are consistent with the university's mission.

In the UCLA basketball program, we strive to win, of course, but also to do everything we can to help our student- athletes develop skills and habits of mind to last a lifetime. Naturally, it is satisfying when our players defeat Cincinnati or Kansas, Arizona or Stanford; yet these achievements simply fulfill short-term goals. Success in athletics is part of what I call the "50-Year Life Plan," one that begins with a strong educational foundation and contains strategies that lead to success not only in athletics, but also in business, community and family life.

Many of you have sent me letters, helpful books, articles and e-mails of support this season and over the past 11 years. More importantly, you have served as mentors, teaching me valuable lessons about achievement that go well beyond the basketball court: community leaders, professors and distinguished scholars such as paleobiologist J. William Schopf and his wife, research biologist Jane Shen-Miller; Donald Morrison, NCAA faculty representative and Anderson professor, and his wife, Sherie Morrison, chair of the Depart-ment of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics; Roy Doumani, acting chief operating officer of the California NanoSystems Institute and a longtime friend of UCLA; philanthropists Robert and Marion Wilson, also longtime and generous friends of UCLA; faculty members Steven Berglas in The Anderson School, Gerald Goodman in psychology and Albert Hutter in the English Department; and former Vice Chancellor Winston Doby, who now heads UC's outreach programs. I have also learned, and continue to learn, from another outstanding English teacher by the name of John Wooden. To all of you who have written to me, thank you for your support, your words of encouragement, and for sharing your insights!

Steve Lavin is UCLA head basketball coach.