BERKELEY — Pete Newell, the Hall of Fame basketball coach who won an NCAA championship and Olympic gold medal and later tutored some of the game's greatest big men, died today. He was 93.
The University of California confirmed his death. Newell coached the Bears to a national title in 1959. No details were available, but Newell had a serious lung operation in 2005.
Newell coached 14 years at San Francisco, Michigan State and California before doctors advised him to give it up because of the emotional toll. His final coaching job came in the 1960 Olympics, when he took a U.S. team led by Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Jerry Lucas to a gold medal in Rome.
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