Men’s volleyball coach Al Scates reminisces about his relationship with Pauley Pavilion

Al Scates is a man of many words; because of this, he rarely cuts a conversation short. It’s not out of courteousness, although Scates, the UCLA men’s volleyball coach, would open the door for even his worst enemy’s mother. No, he just likes to talk.

But following a UCLA win over UC Irvine on March 24, the last event held at Pauley Pavilion before it undergoes major renovations, Scates halted his interview with a radio show halfway through. He saw the 50-plus alumni that traveled from across the country to see the final match in Pauley slowly moving into position for a picture, and he had to be a part of it.

Special moments have been commonplace for the 71-year-old Scates, a UCLA alumnus and former All-American volleyball player, since becoming UCLA’s men’s volleyball coach 49 years ago. But this moment was different.

“I knew this game was coming, but until I stepped in the arena onto the court and saw all of the alumni, I didn’t know what it would be like ““ it really felt important,” Scates said.

During Scates’ tenure, the Bruins have won 19 NCAA Championships. Not only is that the most of any coach at UCLA, that mark is tied with former Arkansas track and field coach John McDonnell for the most championships won by any coach in any college sport in history.

“One word can describe coach Scates: legend,” senior libero Tom Hastings said. “The man has so many experiences, so many championships and so many stories. I feel so honored to be a part of this program and to play under him.”

Out of Scates’ 19 championships, nine of the actual championship matches were played and won in Pauley Pavilion. But after 44 years of housing a multitude of events by UCLA Athletics and other organizations, renovations are in order.

“It’s kind of like messing with the Mona Lisa,” said UCLA alum Doug Partie, who started and won four championships in four years at UCLA from 1981-1984.

The last of Partie’s titles came in Pauley after a historic 38-0 season, a record that will never be surpassed because of game restrictions that no longer allow schools to play 38 matches a season.
“The place is a shrine of basketball, it’s a shrine of volleyball, it’s a shrine of UCLA. It’s tough to see somebody mess with it, but the time has come,” he said.

The relationship between Scates and Pauley was initially forged in 1965, the same year the arena opened. At the time, Scates was coaching the men’s volleyball team while also playing for the USA national team and acting as the chairman for the USVBA Collegiate Volleyball Committee.

Late in 1965, Scates heard through the wire that the gold medalist-winning Japanese women’s volleyball team was stopping in Los Angeles on its way back from an event in Brazil with the silver medalist-winning Japanese men’s team.

Because of Scates’ knowledge of American volleyball and its dire need for money and exposure, he proposed a triple-header. The men’s and women’s Japanese teams would compete against the men’s and women’s American teams in Pauley, free of charge, while UCLA competed against USC.

“I took this idea to J.D. Morgan, the athletics director at UCLA at the time, and he told me that I had to promote the event all by myself,” Scates said. “He gave me the UCLA mailing list, some postcards and some posters, and I sent a flyer to everyone on that list and posted up posters all over beach communities on telephone poles.”

As if being the promoter and organizer wasn’t enough, Scates coached the first game against USC and won 3-0, and started in the men’s game against Japan, in which the U.S. won to capture the first ever United States men’s volleyball victory against Japan. The event drew in over 5,000 paying customers.

“J.D. Morgan was very impressed, and he said that he would see to it that volleyball would become an NCAA sport,” Scates said. “He did it and without this event in Pauley, volleyball definitely wouldn’t have been an NCAA sport in 1970.”

In the first three years of men’s volleyball as an official NCAA sport, UCLA brought home three NCAA titles, two of which were won in Pauley.

While Scates was quietly racking up championships in a burgeoning sport, John Wooden ““ the man for whom the court at Pauley was named, along with his wife Nell ““ was doing some winning of his own in the same building. Wooden won 10 men’s basketball national championships, and Scates won his 19. And the pair won four in the same seasons ““ 1970-1972 and 1975.

Scates and Wooden shared adjacent offices and over the years built a close friendship based on similar interests and mutual respect. Scates still wears a black wristband that reads “Competitive Greatness. JRW.” as a remembrance and tribute to Wooden.

“I talked to John every day and I have every book that he ever wrote ““ he always got a big kick out of that,” said a pensive and appreciative Scates.

“Actually, I was going to write a book of my own, and I had him write the preface. He wrote it in pencil on his stationery just in case I wanted to change something. I didn’t end up writing the book, but I have the preface framed in my house.”

It’s a surprise he never finished that book. He certainly isn’t at a loss for words. For reporters, for his friends and family, for his players.

“The man can talk,” Hastings said. “He can just see something and be like, “˜That reminds me of the Koreans in ’82 ““ they were the quickest setting team I’ve ever seen.’ It’s incredible.”

But on that last night in Pauley, in that iconic structure that has spanned half a century and seen countless championships, Scates did not want to talk. He was at peace. He was home.