Pete Newell, 93; Famed Basketball Coach and Teacher

"In his time, I think he was one of the better coaches the game has ever seen," Mr. Wooden said a few years ago. "When I think of the outstanding teachers of the game, he ranged up there with the very best," Wooden said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

UCLA and Berkeley met 15 times while the two men were coaching. UCLA won the first seven, and Mr. Newell's squads the last eight.

Mr. Newell was born in Canada, was brought to Los Angeles as a boy and had a minor career as a child actor in Hollywood.

It was apparently his mother's idea. "I hated acting," he said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "All I wanted to do was be home playing ball."

After high school, he attended Loyola University, now known as Loyola Marymount.

He played a summer of minor-league baseball, served in the Navy during World War II, then became head basketball coach at USF. His record there was 70-37. He went to Michigan State in 1950 and was hired to coach the Golden Bears in 1954.

From 1957 to 1960, his teams won the Pacific Eight championship four years in succession. But at age 44, he left the sidelines and served for a time as athletic director at Berkeley.

Later, he moved to the executive suite of NBA teams, notably as general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1972 to 1976. He retained his interest in teaching the game and continued to be influential in it in a variety of ways, among them with an annual clinic he led that was known for honing the talents of many of the game's best-known players.

But he did not return to the sidelines. He attributed his departure to his health and doctors' orders. "I was smoking too many cigarettes, drinking too much coffee, and wasn't able to eat," he once said.

A former player, Stan Morrison, suggested to the Los Angeles Times that it was not so much the stress of competition that affected him as the acclaim.

"He was such a humble guy and it was just too much. Everyone would be on their feet when he came out, and we'd put the ball down and applaud. Even the visiting team would do it sometimes."

His wife died almost 25 years ago. Survivors include four sons.