Pete Newell 1915-2008
November 17, 2008 by Kevin Hunter
Filed under Basketball
The Hall of Fame coach passed away today at the age of 93 at the home of one of his former players and caretaker for the past few years, Dr. Earl Shultz in Del Mar in San Diego County.
Newell won a national championship at California in 1959 and an Olympic gold medal in 1960 with a team that featured hall of famers Jerry Lucas, Jerry West and Oscar Robinson. That same year he was named Coach of the Year after leadinng Cal to the finals for the second straight season.
Newell had an overall 234-123 record in 15 years of coaching at California, University of San Francisco and Michigan State University.
He may be best known during his post-coaching career as a teacher and NBA consultant and scout.
For 24 years his “Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp” was one of the most famous basketball camps in the nation, if not the world. Some of the attendees included, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ralph Sampson, Kermit Washington and Bill Walton along with 200 other former and current NBA and college players.
Newell is survived by sons Pete Jr., Tom, Roger and Greg.
