This edition of the Life of Fitz podcast features host Tim Fitzgerald calling former Kansas State basketball coach Jim Wooldridge in Dallas, Texas, where he and his wife, Anne, recently moved. Wooldridge coached the Wildcats from 2000 until being let go by athletics director Tim Weiser after losing in the Big 12 Tournament to end the 2005-06 season. Wooly was born in Oklahoma City and played basketball at Lousiana Tech. He landed his first head coaching job at Central Missouri State in 1985, coaching there for six seasons before moving to Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) and then to his alma mater. Wooldridge won 73% of his game at CMSU but never found that level of success again. When K-State looking for a new basketball coach after firing Tom Asbury, Wooly was serving as an assistant for the Chicago Bulls under good friend Tim Floyd. Wooly's program went 83-90 in his six seasons, and his final roster was the foundation for Bob Huggins' one season in Manhattan. After leaving K-State, Coach Wooldridge went on to coach at Cal-Riverside, then became the school's athletic director and then he completed his career during a fulfilling five-year run as the AD at Riverside City College. He retired from athletics two years ago and is now 66 years old.

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Tim Fitzgerald is a sports journalist who writes, does TV, radio and is a long-time podcaster. He has served as publisher of GoPowercat.com, a website that focuses on Kansas State sports, for nearly 25 years. Fitz also has stage four prostate cancer, so during the initial stages of the pandemic, his doctors have advised him to stay home and lay low. Now, Fitz is healthy and in remission, but his podcast lives on. Welcome to his life and the Life of Fitz podcast.

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