You may not know what he looks like, who he was and why people felt he was special enough to teach them but Pete Newell was one of the best coaches college basketball has ever seen.Newell died yesterday at the age on 93.
Newell was a legend and held the respect and admiration of the game's other legends. Newell coached for 14 years at San Francisco, Michigan State and California. He compiled a 234-123 record and won the 1959 NCAA Tournament while at Cal. His final head coaching gig came the very next year when he took an Olympic team with Oscar Roberston, Jerry West and Jerry Lucas to a gold medal.
He also beat UCLA's John Wooden the last eight times they met.
He's legacy lives on with his "Pete Newell Big Man Camp". The camp has been going on for over 30 years and has taught the likes of Lew Alcinder, Bill Walton, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson. The camps have become a mandatory stop for any big man wanting to get into the NBA.
Newell didn't ask for a dime from the camps and felt that he owed it to the game of basketball.
Newell is gone but his legacy lives on. His camps will continue, his students will keep on playing, he is in the Basketball Hall of Fame and Cal's home court is named after him. Only Newell, Bobby Knight and Dean Smith can claim they coached a team to an NCAA Tournament championship, NIT Championship and an Olympic gold medal.
Pete Newell, 1915-2008.
