Basketball Legend Pete Newell Passes Away At Age 93

Nov. 17, 2008

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Pete Newell, the Hall of Fame basketball coach who won an NCAA championship and Olympic gold medal and later tutored some of the game's greatest big men, died Monday. He was 93. Newell coached at Michigan State from 1950-54, leading the Spartans as they made the transition into the Big Ten.

His death was confirmed by the University of California, the school Newell coached to a national title in 1959. Newell, who had been living near San Diego, had a serious lung operation in 2005.

Newell coached for 14 years at San Francisco, Michigan State and California before doctors advised him to give it up because of the emotional toll. His final coaching job came in the 1960 Olympics, when he took a U.S. team led by Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Jerry Lucas to a gold medal in Rome.

Newell later returned to prominence with his famous "big men" camps. He instructed some of the game's greatest stars, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Shaquille O'Neal and Ralph Sampson.

Pete Newell came to Michigan State College in 1950 with the challenge of leading the Spartans into the world of Big Ten Basketball. In Newell's first season at MSC, he led the Spartans to a victory in their first Big Ten game, a 67-62 win over Northwestern. His 1951-52 MSU squad was the first Spartan team to be ranked in The Associated Press poll, and also registered a win over No. 14 Notre Dame, the first win over a ranked opponent in school history. One of his biggest wins was a 1952 defeat of No.2-ranked Kansas State. His best season came in 1952-53, when he led MSC to a third-place conference finish.

"I am saddened for the Michigan State family, and on a way bigger stage, the entire basketball family," said MSU head coach Tom Izzo. "He was a standard in the game, where everyone admired what he did and what he stood for. Furthermore, he did it at all levels of the game.

"The last few years, he was able to come back to Michigan State and have reunions with some of his former players. Whenever he was back on campus, I looked forward to spending time with him and talking basketball. He will certainly be missed, but he had a great and full life and was able to contribute to the game he loved until the very end. I'm happy for him in that respect."

"Pete Newell was a mentor of mine, along with John Benington who captained Newell's NIT title team at San Francisco and later served as his assistant," said Gus Ganakas, head basketball coach at Michigan State from 1969-76. "I patterned much of what I did after his teachings. I really admired his basketball mind. He's one of a small group to win NIT, NCAA and Olympic titles, and he made contributions to basketball at every level, which he continued doing late in life. From an offensive standpoint, and even somewhat defensively, he was like a scientist - very pattern-minded. But he also showed great ingenuity. Whatever success I might have found in basketball, Pete Newell deserves a lot of the credit."

Among Newell's biggest admirers was Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight, whose teams practiced Newell's style of patient, disciplined offense and tenacious, hardworking defense.

"Three coaches had the most influence on college basketball in terms of tactics, both offensively and defensively," Knight once said. "Clair Bee, Hank Iba and Pete. And I think Pete had the greatest total grasp. He really studied it and kept abreast of it, both professional and collegiate. He was truly remarkable."

Newell was born in Canada but grew up in Los Angeles. His mother envisioned an acting career for her son, and he appeared in several movies including "The Kid," which made a star of Jackie Coogan.

He attended what is now Loyola Marymount University and served in the Navy during World War II.

In 1946 he took a job at a small Roman Catholic school, the University of San Francisco, coaching basketball as well as baseball, golf and tennis. The Dons won the National Invitation Tournament in 1949, when it was considered at least the equal of the NCAA tournament.

Following four seasons at USF, the last concluding with another return visit to the NIT, Newell moved to Michigan State.

In 1954, Newell was hired at California. The Bears won four consecutive conference titles and made two trips to the Final Four, capturing the NCAA tournament in 1959. The starless Bears had to beat two future Hall of Famers on their way to the championship. In the semifinals they defeated Robertson and Cincinnati 64-58. Then in the final, Cal beat West Virginia, which was led by West.

Showing it was no fluke, the Bears beat both teams again the following season with West and Robertson still in college. Cal topped West Virginia 65-45 in a holiday tournament and knocked off Cincinnati 77-69 in the Final Four.

Cal lost the 1960 championship game 75-55 to Ohio State, which was led by Lucas, John Havlicek and Knight.

Emotionally high strung, Newell lived on coffee, cigarettes and little else during the season. He was told by doctors to leave full-time coaching, which he did in 1960 at age 44. His overall record was 234-123, and he beat UCLA's John Wooden the last eight times they met.

Newell ended his coaching career in the Olympics, when the U.S. team won every game by at least 24 points.

Newell served as athletic director at Cal from 1960-68, a turbulent era on the Berkeley campus. He worked for several NBA teams in a variety of capacities. He was general manager of the Rockets when they were in San Diego and orchestrated the trade that brought Abdul-Jabbar to Los Angeles when he ran the Lakers. He later was a consultant to the Warriors and a scout for the Cavaliers.

PETE NEWELL MEMORIAL INFORMATION
MASS
Monday, November 24 - 11 am
Church of Nativity
6309 El Apaho Rd.
Rancho Santa Fe, CA

BURIAL
Tuesday, November 25 - 11 am
Holy Cross Cemetery
5835 W. Slauson Ave.
Culver City, CA 90230

MEMORIAL SERVICE
Monday, December 15 - 9 am
Sacred Heart Chapel
Loyola Marymount University Campus
1 LMU Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90045

FUNERAL HOME
El Camino Memorial (Kellee)
858-453-2121