University of San Francisco Athletics

Newell was born on August 31, 1915, in Vancouver, B.C. but was raised in Los Angeles. He had small acting parts in movies prior to the age of 10, arranged by his mother. He attended Saint Agnes High School, and graduated with a Degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University. He was a teammate of Phil Woolpert, under coach Jimmy Needles. He also played baseball, and after graduation, started his coaching career at Saint John’s Military Academy in Delafield, WI where he coached both baseball and basketball.
 
Newell served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946, and became Head Basketball Coach at USF in 1946. The 1946 yearbook notes “In his first year as skipper of the Dons, he did a particularly fine job of completely reorganizing the basketball situation after the sport had completely disappeared during the war years. The team was trained in fundamentals, depending a great deal on the elementary play patterns defense was stressed, and as a result, only three times during the season were more than 50 points scored against them in a single game.” During Newell’s first year, the team ended with an 8-1 record.
 
He compiled a 70-37 record and took them to the National Invitation Tournament Title (NIT) in 1949. Don Lofgran was named MVP in the title game against Loyola Chicago (48-47). Newell departed to work at Michigan State as Head Coach until 1954, finishing 45-42, leading the Spartans to two Big Ten Championships in 1953 and 1954. He returned west to the University of California at Berkeley and successfully achieved a 119-44 record, won four consecutive PCC/AAWU titles, and led the Golden Bears to two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, winning one in 1959. Newell was named National Coach of the Year in 1960.
 
Newell also coached the United States Olympic Basketball Team to a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics, with a team of future Hall of Fame players that included Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West. The Unites States won all eight of its games by an average of 42.4 PPG and defeated Brazil 90-63 for the gold. His Olympic win made him one of only three coaches to win the triple crown of NIT, NCAA and Olympic Championships in the same year. Following his retirement from college basketball with a 234-223 record and 28-1 season, he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1979.
 
After retiring from coaching on medical advice, he served as the Athletic Director at Cal from 1960 to 1968. Newell later served as a baseball scout in the NBA, and as General Manager of the San Diego Rockets from 1968 to 1971, as General Manager of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1972 to 1976, and as Director of Player Development for the NBA before he retired in 1976.
 
In 1976, Newell started an annual summer training “Big Man Camp” for centers and forwards, which had an attendance list of over 250 participants who went on to the NBA. The camp was seen as an entrance requirement for a player transitioning from college hoops to the NBA. He never accepted any money from the players, saying “He owed it to the game. I can never repay what the game has given me.” ESPN’s Ric Bucher said that “For the past 24 years, every Big Man of any significance has spent at least one summer week trying to get close enough to Pete.” The men’s camp ran from 1976 until 2008. In 2001, Newell started an equivalent camp for women’s basketball. Since 2000, the National Collegiate Coaches Association have annually presented the Pete Newell Big Man Award to a top front court player in the nation. In an interview with Mike Greenberg on ESPN, Bob Knight singled out Newell as one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, influencing the game more than anyone. Despite winning fewer championships as some other coaches, “He was as good as anybody who’s ever coached this game.” 
 
What characterized his coaching was his ability to evaluate talent and innovate new strategies. He taught tight, aggressive defense and disciplined patterned offense known as reverse-action. He was considered a master at basketball tactics. Don Nelson said about Newell: “Pete was a great coach and a great man who had the ability to relate to players and people on every level. A countless number of coaches and players benefited from Pete’s tutelage over the years, including those who attended his specialized camps each summer and who will be indebted to him for the expertise and wisdom that he provided.”
 
John Wooden, head coach of UCLA, whose team played against USF under Newell fifteen times, said in 2005: “In his time, I think he was one of the better coaches the game has ever seen. When I think of the outstanding teachers of the game, he ranked up there with the very best.”
 
All four of his sons have been involved with basketball: Pete Jr. coached the Santa Cruz High School Boy’s Basketball Team to the California State Championship in 2005. Greg was an executive at Converse. Tom is an NBA scout and assistant coach who has worked internationally, and a Fox Sports Studio Commentator. Roger was instrumental in introducing computer software and analytics to the NBA with the Newell Productivity System.