Pete Newell
Encyclopedia
Peter Francis Newell was an American college men's basketball
coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco
, Michigan State University
and the University of California, Berkeley, compiling an overall record of 234 wins and 123 losses. He led the University of California to the 1959 NCAA men's basketball championship
, and a year later coached the gold medal-winning U.S. team
at the 1960 Summer Olympics
, a team that would be inducted as a unit to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. After his coaching career ended he ran a world-famous instructional basketball camp and served as a consultant and scout for several National Basketball Association
(NBA) teams. He is often considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of basketball.
and grew up in Los Angeles
. Encouraged by his mother, he had small roles in several movie
s before he turned ten. Newell attended both high school and college in Los Angeles, California, and was a classmate of Phil Woolpert
at Loyola Marymount University
(then called Loyola University). He played on the basketball team.
from 1942 to 1946, Newell was appointed head men's basketball coach at the University of San Francisco
in 1946. During his four-year tenure at USF, Newell compiled a 70-37 record and coached the Dons
to the 1949 National Invitation Tournament
championship. In 1950 he accepted an appointment as head coach at Michigan State University, where he stayed until 1954.
Newell returned to the West Coast in 1954 when he was hired as head coach at the University of California, Berkeley. Newell was very successful at Cal, compiling a 119-44 record, winning four consecutive Pac-8 titles from 1957 to 1960, and leading the Golden Bears to two straight appearances in the NCAA tournament
championship game—which they won in 1959. Newell himself earned national Coach of the Year
honors in 1960. At Berkeley, he became a faculty initiate of the Nu Chapter of Phi Kappa Tau
Fraternity where player Darrall Imhoff
was a member.
Newell also coached the U.S. men's Olympic basketball
team to a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics
, leading a talented squad that featured future National Basketball Association (NBA) stars and Hall of Famers Walt Bellamy, Oscar Robertson
, Jerry West
, and Jerry Lucas
. His win in the Olympics made him one of only three coaches to win the "Triple Crown" of NCAA, NIT and Olympic championships. Newell is also known to have introduced the reverse-action offense in the late nineteen fifties.
After being advised by doctors to give up coaching because of stress, he served as the Athletic Director
at Cal from 1960 to 1968.
Among his various achievements includes having a winning record against UCLA Coach John Wooden
, considered by many to be the greatest coach in college basketball history.
teams, among them the Houston Rockets
, the Los Angeles Lakers
and the Golden State Warriors
. As general manager of the Lakers, he was instrumental in trading for star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
from the Milwaukee Bucks
. He retired from his job as Lakers
GM
in 1976 to spend more time with his ailing wife.
. After Washington's game rapidly improved, more and more big men started to work with Newell, and he later opened the camp. The camp's impressive participants list features over 200 current and former NBA players. Newell attracted this list of players due to his reputation of teaching footwork, being what one publication described as "The Footwork Master". Former attendees include Shaquille O'Neal
, Hakeem Olajuwon
, Bill Walton
, and many others. The camp was almost seen as standard for players coming out of college into the NBA; according to ESPN's Ric Bucher
, "[f]or the past 24 years, every big man of any significance has spent at least one summer week trying to get close enough to Pete." From the time Newell opened the camp in 1976 until his death, he never accepted any money for his services, stating that "I owe it to the game. I can never repay what the game has given me." The camp has taken place in Honolulu, Hawaii and most recently Las Vegas, Nevada
.
In 2001 Newell opened his version of the Big Man Camp for women and dubbed it "Pete Newell's Tall Women's Basketball Camp" with the following simple sentence serving as a summary of its intentions: "The Pete Newell Tall Women's Basketball Camp goal is to continue to do what Pete Newell has done his whole life-to teach the fundamentals and footwork of the game of basketball to young players."
boys' basketball team to the California state championship in 2005. Another son, Tom Newell, is a longtime NBA scout
and assistant coach who has recently worked on international basketball projects in China and Russia. He currently is a Fox Sports studio commentator in the network's Northwest region.
, and frequent participants in the Pete Newell Challenge include USF and Cal—the very schools where Newell coached. In addition in 1987 Cal dedicated the court in Harmon Gym
as "Pete Newell Court".
In 1999, author Bruce Jenkins published a biography
of Newell entitled A Good Man.
Since 2000, the National Association of Basketball Coaches
has annually presented the Pete Newell Big Man Award
to the top frontcourt player in the nation.
In an interview with Mike Greenberg on ESPN
's Mike and Mike in the Morning
on January 2, 2007, Bob Knight singled Newell out as one of the greatest coaches in men's college basketball
history. Knight stated that although he had not won as many championships as some other coaches he felt "he was as good as anybody who's ever coached this game." Newell's influence on basketball is often stated in what would seem to be almost exaggerated terms by many Hall of Fame coaches and players. However, his contributions to the game of basketball have been so great that according to many Newell has perhaps had as much or more influence on the game of basketball as any person in the modern era.
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco
San Francisco Dons men's basketball
The San Francisco Dons basketball team represents the University of San Francisco in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's college basketball. The Dons compete in the West Coast Conference, in which they have won sixteen regular season and one conference tournament...
, Michigan State University
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center...
and the University of California, Berkeley, compiling an overall record of 234 wins and 123 losses. He led the University of California to the 1959 NCAA men's basketball championship
1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1959 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 7, 1959, and ended with the championship game on March 21 in Louisville,...
, and a year later coached the gold medal-winning U.S. team
1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XVII Olympiad, representing the United States of America. The team, coached by California Golden Bears coach Pete Newell, dominated the competition, winning its games by an average of 42.4 points per game...
at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics was the fifth appearance of the sport in Olympic competition. 16 nations were admitted into the Olympic tournament, with many others being eliminated in a pre-Olympic tournament held earlier in the year from 13 to 20 August 1960 at the Sports Palace at Bologna...
, a team that would be inducted as a unit to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. After his coaching career ended he ran a world-famous instructional basketball camp and served as a consultant and scout for several National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) teams. He is often considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of basketball.
Early life
He was born in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and grew up in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Encouraged by his mother, he had small roles in several movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s before he turned ten. Newell attended both high school and college in Los Angeles, California, and was a classmate of Phil Woolpert
Phil Woolpert
Phil Woolpert was an American college basketball coach. He is best known for coaching the University of San Francisco Dons to two straight national championships in 1955 and 1956....
at Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive co-educational private Roman Catholic university in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions located in Los Angeles, California, United States...
(then called Loyola University). He played on the basketball team.
Coaching career
After serving in the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
from 1942 to 1946, Newell was appointed head men's basketball coach at the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
in 1946. During his four-year tenure at USF, Newell compiled a 70-37 record and coached the Dons
San Francisco Dons men's basketball
The San Francisco Dons basketball team represents the University of San Francisco in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's college basketball. The Dons compete in the West Coast Conference, in which they have won sixteen regular season and one conference tournament...
to the 1949 National Invitation Tournament
1949 National Invitation Tournament
The 1949 National Invitation Tournament was the 1949 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.-Selected teams:Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament.-Brackets/Results:Below is the tournament bracket....
championship. In 1950 he accepted an appointment as head coach at Michigan State University, where he stayed until 1954.
Newell returned to the West Coast in 1954 when he was hired as head coach at the University of California, Berkeley. Newell was very successful at Cal, compiling a 119-44 record, winning four consecutive Pac-8 titles from 1957 to 1960, and leading the Golden Bears to two straight appearances in the NCAA tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
championship game—which they won in 1959. Newell himself earned national Coach of the Year
Henry Iba Award
The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association . Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the award, which is presented in conjunction with the Final Four....
honors in 1960. At Berkeley, he became a faculty initiate of the Nu Chapter of Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau is a U.S. national collegiate fraternity.-History:Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity was founded in the Union Literary Society Hall of Miami University's Old Main Building in Oxford, Ohio on March 17, 1906...
Fraternity where player Darrall Imhoff
Darrall Imhoff
Darrall Tucker Imhoff is an American former professional basketball player. He spent twelve seasons in the NBA , playing for half a dozen teams...
was a member.
Newell also coached the U.S. men's Olympic basketball
1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XVII Olympiad, representing the United States of America. The team, coached by California Golden Bears coach Pete Newell, dominated the competition, winning its games by an average of 42.4 points per game...
team to a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
, leading a talented squad that featured future National Basketball Association (NBA) stars and Hall of Famers Walt Bellamy, Oscar Robertson
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson , nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks...
, Jerry West
Jerry West
Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
, and Jerry Lucas
Jerry Lucas
Jerry Ray Lucas was a basketball player from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association history...
. His win in the Olympics made him one of only three coaches to win the "Triple Crown" of NCAA, NIT and Olympic championships. Newell is also known to have introduced the reverse-action offense in the late nineteen fifties.
After being advised by doctors to give up coaching because of stress, he served as the Athletic Director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
at Cal from 1960 to 1968.
Among his various achievements includes having a winning record against UCLA Coach John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
, considered by many to be the greatest coach in college basketball history.
NBA Work
After retiring from coaching, Newell served as team executive or scout for several NBANational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
teams, among them the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
, the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
and the Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
. As general manager of the Lakers, he was instrumental in trading for star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
from the Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....
. He retired from his job as Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
GM
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
in 1976 to spend more time with his ailing wife.
Basketball camps
Considered "America's Basketball Guru", Newell conducted an annual training camp for centers and forwards known simply as "Big Man Camp", which has since been informally dubbed "Pete Newell's Big Man Camp". The camp originated when word spread that Newell was working with Kermit WashingtonKermit Washington
Kermit Alan Washington is an American former professional basketball player. Washington is best remembered for punching opposing player Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court fight in 1977. The punch nearly killed Tomjanovich, and it resulted in severe medical problems that ultimately ended his...
. After Washington's game rapidly improved, more and more big men started to work with Newell, and he later opened the camp. The camp's impressive participants list features over 200 current and former NBA players. Newell attracted this list of players due to his reputation of teaching footwork, being what one publication described as "The Footwork Master". Former attendees include Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
, Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...
, Bill Walton
Bill Walton
William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while...
, and many others. The camp was almost seen as standard for players coming out of college into the NBA; according to ESPN's Ric Bucher
Ric Bucher
Ric Bucher is an NBA analyst for ESPN and ESPN.com. Bucher is also a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and a columnist for ESPN.com.Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bucher is a 1983 graduate of Dartmouth College, where he played four years on the varsity soccer team. Bucher has covered the NBA since...
, "[f]or the past 24 years, every big man of any significance has spent at least one summer week trying to get close enough to Pete." From the time Newell opened the camp in 1976 until his death, he never accepted any money for his services, stating that "I owe it to the game. I can never repay what the game has given me." The camp has taken place in Honolulu, Hawaii and most recently Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.
In 2001 Newell opened his version of the Big Man Camp for women and dubbed it "Pete Newell's Tall Women's Basketball Camp" with the following simple sentence serving as a summary of its intentions: "The Pete Newell Tall Women's Basketball Camp goal is to continue to do what Pete Newell has done his whole life-to teach the fundamentals and footwork of the game of basketball to young players."
Personal life
Newell's wife Florence died in 1984. His four sons have all been involved with basketball. His son, Pete Newell Jr., coached the Santa Cruz High SchoolSanta Cruz High School
Santa Cruz High School is a comprehensive public school in Santa Cruz, California which opened in 1897 and now serves an enrollment of about 1,040 students in grades nine through twelve.- Notable alumni :...
boys' basketball team to the California state championship in 2005. Another son, Tom Newell, is a longtime NBA scout
NBA Scout
NBA scouts are professionals hired by NBA franchises to evaluate player talent or opposing teams' preparation or strategies. A prospect scout typically looks for younger players with potential or existing players whose rights may be available through free agency or trade. An advance scout,...
and assistant coach who has recently worked on international basketball projects in China and Russia. He currently is a Fox Sports studio commentator in the network's Northwest region.
Legacy
In 1979 Newell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2010 the 1960 Olympic team he coached was inducted into the Hall as a unit. An annual college basketball tournament is held in his honor in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, and frequent participants in the Pete Newell Challenge include USF and Cal—the very schools where Newell coached. In addition in 1987 Cal dedicated the court in Harmon Gym
Haas Pavilion
The Walter A. Haas, Jr. Pavilion is the home of the University of California's men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's and women's gymnastics teams...
as "Pete Newell Court".
In 1999, author Bruce Jenkins published a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Newell entitled A Good Man.
Since 2000, the National Association of Basketball Coaches
National Association of Basketball Coaches
The National Association of Basketball Coaches , headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of college men's basketball coaches...
has annually presented the Pete Newell Big Man Award
Pete Newell Big Man Award
The Pete Newell Big Man Award has been awarded by the National Association of Basketball Coaches since 2000. It is presented to the top low-post player each season. The award is named after Pete Newell, the legendary coach who ran the famed Pete Newell Big Man Camp for low-post players from 1976...
to the top frontcourt player in the nation.
In an interview with Mike Greenberg on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning is an American sports-talk radio show hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio and simulcast on television, normally on ESPN2. If ESPN is broadcasting a live sporting event during the show's timeslot, Sportscenter will air on ESPN2, and the show's...
on January 2, 2007, Bob Knight singled Newell out as one of the greatest coaches in men's college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
history. Knight stated that although he had not won as many championships as some other coaches he felt "he was as good as anybody who's ever coached this game." Newell's influence on basketball is often stated in what would seem to be almost exaggerated terms by many Hall of Fame coaches and players. However, his contributions to the game of basketball have been so great that according to many Newell has perhaps had as much or more influence on the game of basketball as any person in the modern era.
Selected Bibliography
- Basketball Methods (1962) w/ John Benington
- Basketball:The Sports Playbook (1976)
- Basketball Post Play (1995)
- Pete Newell's Defensive Basketball: Winning Techniques and Strategies (Art & Science of Coaching) (2001)
Sources
- Chin, Oliver Clyde. The Tao of Yao: Insights from Basketball's Brightest Big Man, California: Frog, LTD. 2003 ISBN 1583940901
- Mandelbaum, Michael. The Meaning Of Sports: why americans watch baseball, football and basketball and what they see when they do, New York: Public Affairs 2004 ISBN 1586483307
- Ramsay, JackJack RamsayJack T. Ramsay is an American former basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack" . He is best known for coaching the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA Title, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio...
and Halberstam, DavidDavid HalberstamDavid Halberstam was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian, known for his early work on the Vietnam War, his work on politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and his later sports journalism.-Early life and education:Halberstam...
. Dr. Jack's Leadership Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Basketball, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. 2004 ISBN 0471469297