out of the blue for someone who lived his life free of smoking or drinking," His son John said later. "There was high stress. But he was always healthy." John hoped to return to coaching Iowa State in 1974–75, but his health worsened. He resigned because of his health on July 30, 1974. John said "It's going to be hard for me not to be on that bench. I won't have to sweat out all those games down on the floor. But truthfully, I'd rather be down there sweating them out." Maury John died on October 15, 1974 at the age of 55. During his 28–year coaching career, John's teams won 528 games and lost 214. Personal Maury John was married to Jean (d. 2009), and they had two children, John and Maurice Jr. "They say a Rolls-Royce increases in value the older it gets," said Willie McCarter. "That is what Coach John is to us. The more I look back, the more I realize how important he was to our lives. Coach John took racism out of the Drake vocabulary. Coach John made us all take a role," McCarter added. "He made everyone feel that without them, the wheel wouldn't go around. He made every spoke in the wheel as important as the other. That made you want to go out and bust your butt for him. I'd give it all up if he could still be here. Selfishly, I've needed to talk to him more than once." “I echo what my teammates have said,” former player Willie Wise stated. “I'm so appreciative to Maurice John. He came out and got this little kid from San Francisco and brought me to Iowa. I had never been in the Midwest, never been out of California. I owe basically what I am today because of Maurice John and Drake.” Honors John is a member of The Des Moines Sunday Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame. John was inducted into the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame in 1984. John was inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2000. The "Fitzsimmons-John Arena," (built in 1998) is the arena at Moberly Area Community College. It is named for John and his successor as coach at Moberly, Cotton Fitzsimmons. Media A documentary on the 1968–69 Drake Basketball team was made in 2004 by filmmaker Jacob Adams of Impossible Productions