Pete Newell: An Ambassador, Teacher, Mentor, and Gentleman!

There is so much negative news filling every media outlet almost every day.  We become immune to even the most disturbing news each night without much of an afterthought.  That is until we are personally involved.  Then we stop, pause to reflect and absorb moments of sadness because we know "our world" has suddenly changed.  This is one of those moments for Basketball.  Yesterday we lost a great one, Mr. Pete Newell.  Death is a part of life so we all accept that it is inevitable.  However sadness comes when we feel we have lost someone or something of great value.  Most people in the Basketball World remember Pete Newell for winning an 1959 NCAA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky for the Cal Bears defeating Jerry West led West Virginia.   He also won the NIT, and the 1960 Gold Medal in Rome as the Head Coach of the USA Olympic Team featuring amongst others Jerry West, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas. 

Later he would become a Team Executive for the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, including several terms as General Manager.  In 1976 he founded the Pete Newell Big Man's Camp which became the standard for teaching fundamental skills and footwork to big men headed for the NBA producing hundreds of graduates into successful NBA careers.  So that is what you know.  Now here is the rest of the story....

Most people don't know that Pete Newell dedicated his life to teaching, educating and expanding basketball around the world.  In the 1960's he helped to establish modern basketball in Japan and throughout his life was influential to generations of coaches in that country as well as others.  I know this because during that time he became a father figure to a diminutive female point guard, Aki Hill, who would later migrate to the USA with his help.  With a personal letter of introduction from Pete in hand to Coach Bob Boyd at USC, Aki Hill decided getting off her plane she wanted to learn instead from John Wooden.  She walked into his UCLA office carrying Pete's letter.  Coach Wooden graciously allowed Aki to study basketball under him for a full season (a Championship one of course) after which Aki was named the new Head Women's Coach at Oregon State.  Aki developed her own Olympian (Carol Menken, 1984) and helped put Women's Basketball in the Northwest on the map. A generation later Coach Newell also befriended a little known backup point guard at Oregon State named Ayako Kikuchi, who later served as a translator for much of Pete's work in Japan and would go on to work for the NBA in Japan.  I know this because I worked with Aki and heard countless stories of Pete's commitment and unselfishness to basketball in Japan and around the world.

In the fall of 1985 I was fortunate enough as a young assistant coach to travel to Portland to hear Coach Wooden (amongst many other greats) speak at the Nike Clinic at Jantzen Beach.  Afterwards Aki was very gracious to introduce me to Coach Wooden who of course left a lasting impression by his humbleness and geninue concern about others.  Even more fortuitous was a few moments later when Aki introduced me to Mr. Pete Newell.  Wow two Hall of Famers in 10 minutes.  Pete indicated to Aki that he needed to catch a plane at the Portland Airport and we offered them a ride.  The other passenger was Mr. Bob Knight (3 Hall of Famers in 30 minutes).  For the next 2-3 hours this young coach sat and listen intently over lunch as two great coaches X and O'd up more than a dozen restaurant napkins with amazing basketball insight.

I learned a couple of things from that once in a lifetime experience. First Bob Knight is one of the most intelligent, creative people I have ever met.  Oh yeah, everybody hears all the other stories, but I got to listen to him quote paragraphs verbatim from the "Art of War", "The Bible" and more than a few other great books.  He had an insatiable desire to learn and become a better basketball coach.  It became immediately clear, that one of the games greatest coaches had an immeasurable respect for one of his mentors Mr. Pete Newell.  The opposing coach in the 1960 title game, where on the bench sat a young Bob Knight.   Talk about a catalytic period for basketball in the U.S where undoubtedly his influence on a generation of future greats in basketball cannot be denied.  

I never will forget taking notes as he talked about principles for attacking zone defenses which to this day have served me well in coaching my teams and educating many others.  However the most important thing that came from that lunch at the Airport, was seeing that as knowledgeable about basketball as he was, Pete was a gentleman.  In recent generations where the focus is on "ME", Pete was always kind, courteous, and concerned for others more than himself.  There are too few gentlemen in basketball anymore.  It had to be increasingly hard as his contacts multiplied into the thousands to maintain that personal concern, but in all my experiences and contact with him, he didn't change.

Looking back on my development as a young coach, I was greatly influence by a California Junior College Hall of Fame Coach named Don Hansen.  Don happened to have achieved his master's degree in the early 60's from San Jose State University just as Coach Newell was enjoying his greatest success in the Bay Area as a college coach.  The more I have studied my philosophy of the game, the more I realized that indirectly I was a "grandson" of many of Pete's ideas.  Coach Hansen, and many coaches on the West Coast in that era were influenced by his futuristic ideas and thought-filled tactics.  He is recognized as the father of the "reverse action offense" which used the idea of ball movement and stretching the court to catch a defender out of position, something found in numerous offenses run today.  I have heard Bob Knight say that he is amongst the 3 most influence coaches from a techincal standpoint in the past century and I don't doubt it. 

I hope somewhere out there another Paul Simon is writing a song with with the lyrics "Where have you gone Mr. Peter Newell".....

There must undoubtedly be thousands of such stories of young coaches, and basketball professionals who were touched by the grace of Mr. Pete Newell.  It is a bold reminder to the many young coaches who aspire to greatness, that greatness is more than winning at all costs.  Coach Newell attained greatness first as a person and human being, then as a wonderful creator and catalyst to basketball ideas he was willling to share with all, and finally by his graciousness and kindness to most anyone who ever met him.  He got it.  He knew how to pass on the legacy of basketball through taking the time to share and show geniune concern for others.  Whether you were Bob Knight, or just a humble young coach at the outset of his career, Pete was an ambassador, a wonderful teacher and mentor, and most of all a gentleman.

To his sons, family and friends our deepest sympathy and our warmest recollections with immeasurable respect for a great man.  As the years roll along, we are losing some of the great coaching influences in our game.  All of us in the game, should take time when we can to appreciate and thank those that has afforded us the opportunity to educate in the sport of basketball through their unselfishness. Thank you Pete.  I learned a great deal from you in a very short period of time and and promise to help to carry on your legacy.

Coach Alan Lambert