Pete Newell, 93; Famed Basketball Coach and Teacher

Pete Newell, 93, a self-effacing legend among college and amateur basketball coaches who led his teams to the major championships of their times, died Nov. 17 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Newell, who had been known as a chain-smoker half a century ago when he guided the University of California Golden Bears to the NCAA championship, had undergone lung surgery in 2005.

He died at the home of one of his former players who had been looking out for him in recent years.

"He had a wonderful life, and it was just old age," Dr. Earl Schultz told the Associated Press. "It was starting to be a real struggle for him physically."

During 15 years as coach at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University and the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Newell, intense, disciplined and gentlemanly, led his quintets to a total of 234 victories, against 123 defeats.

In the heyday of the National Invitation Tournament, a time when the best teams in college basketball were drawn to the annual end-of-the-season competition at New York's Madison Square Garden, Mr. Newell took his USF team to the legendary Eighth Avenue arena in 1949.

Their victory in the final gave Mr. Newell the first first of his major championships.

Ten years later, as head coach across the bay in Berkeley, he led his team to victory in the NCAA tournament.

As the capstone of his career, he guided the U.S. team to victory in the 1960 Olympic Games.

Only a handful of his peers ever won all three of those tournaments, and many of the foremost coaches of his and later times were outspoken admirers of his work.

Bobby Knight, one of college basketball's winningest coaches, has described Mr. Newell as being "as good as anybody who's ever coached this game."

Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, whose teams crossed paths many times with those of Mr. Newell, was another who held him in high esteem.