C. M. Newton
Encyclopedia
Charles Martin "C. M." Newton (born February 2, 1930 in Rockwood, Tennessee
) is a retired American basketball
player, coach and administrator. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a Contributor on October 13, 2000.
, playing both baseball
and basketball. As a reserve guard/forward, he was part of the Wildcats
' national championship team in 1951 under legendary coach Adolph Rupp
, though Newton himself averaged only 1.2 points per game. As a pitcher he helped the Wildcats baseball team reach the NCAA tournament and, after college, signed a minor league baseball contract with a New York Yankees
farm system
. Newton finally gave up baseball after the births of his two daughters.
(then Transylvania College) in Lexington, Kentucky
on a recommendation by Rupp. Newton compiled a 169–137 record at Transylvania, leading them to the 1963 NAIA
Tournament. While at Transylvania he recruited the school's first black
player.
Newton was inducted into Transylvania's Pioneer Hall of Fame in 1992.
Paul "Bear" Bryant
, who had been the coach for the University of Kentucky's football team during Newton's playing days, called Rupp looking for someone to turn around the University of Alabama
's basketball program. Rupp recommended Newton, who after twelve seasons at Transylvania, left Lexington for Tuscaloosa
.
In twelve seasons at Alabama, Newton led the Crimson Tide to a record of 211–123. Under Newton the Crimson Tide
became the only school besides the University of Kentucky to win three straight Southeastern Conference
titles (1974, 1975, and 1976). Newton also guided Alabama to four NIT and two NCAA
tournament berths, prompting the school to name a recruiting suite in his honor in 2006.
Just as he did at Transylvania, Newton recruited Alabama's first black player, Wendell Hudson
, in 1969, integrating his second team in as many coaching stops.
, Newton had no intentions of coaching again until he was approached by Roy Kramer
, the athletics director for Vanderbilt University
. After only one year as assistant commissioner, Newton became coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores
, leading them to a 129–115 mark in eight seasons and berths in the NCAA tournament in 1988 and 1989.
, the three point line
, and the coaches' box.
, the University of Kentucky, persuaded him to replace athletic director Cliff Hagan
and help navigate the stormy waters of an NCAA probation. Newton's first move as AD was to hire then-New York Knicks
coach Rick Pitino
. The Wildcats bounced back from their probation with a core of mostly Kentucky-born players known affectionately to fans as "The Unforgettables." The group — consisting of Sean Woods
, Deron Feldhaus, Richie Farmer and John Pelphrey
— lost in overtime in the East Regional final of the NCAA tournament to the Duke Blue Devils
in a game many consider the greatest college basketball game ever played.
Newton also hired Bernadette Mattox, the university's first black women's basketball coach in 1995. In 1997 he hired Orlando "Tubby" Smith
, the university's first black men's basketball coach, to replace Pitino, who had accepted a head coaching job with the NBA
's Boston Celtics
.
On December 18, 1999, Newton was presented with the Annie Wittenmyer White Ribbon Award by the Women's Christian Temperance Union for refusing to allow alcohol advertising
at university sporting events.
In 2000 the University of Kentucky officially named its football playing field at Commonwealth Stadium
the C.M. Newton Field.
. It was on Newton's watch that the decision was made to allow professional basketball players to represent the United States
in the Summer Olympics
. This decision gave rise to the 1992 "Dream Team."
Rockwood, Tennessee
Rockwood is a city in Roane County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 5,774 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
) is a retired American basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player, coach and administrator. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a Contributor on October 13, 2000.
College career
Newton was a two-sport player at the University of KentuckyUniversity of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
, playing both baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and basketball. As a reserve guard/forward, he was part of the Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky , a founding member of the Southeastern Conference...
' national championship team in 1951 under legendary coach Adolph Rupp
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
, though Newton himself averaged only 1.2 points per game. As a pitcher he helped the Wildcats baseball team reach the NCAA tournament and, after college, signed a minor league baseball contract with a New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
farm system
Farm team
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team or nursery club, is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher level at a given point...
. Newton finally gave up baseball after the births of his two daughters.
Transylvania University
By 1956, Newton had landed his first basketball coaching job at Transylvania UniversityTransylvania University
Transylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
(then Transylvania College) in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
on a recommendation by Rupp. Newton compiled a 169–137 record at Transylvania, leading them to the 1963 NAIA
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
Tournament. While at Transylvania he recruited the school's first black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
player.
Newton was inducted into Transylvania's Pioneer Hall of Fame in 1992.
University of Alabama
In 1968 legendary football coach and athletic directorAthletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
, who had been the coach for the University of Kentucky's football team during Newton's playing days, called Rupp looking for someone to turn around the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
's basketball program. Rupp recommended Newton, who after twelve seasons at Transylvania, left Lexington for Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
.
In twelve seasons at Alabama, Newton led the Crimson Tide to a record of 211–123. Under Newton the Crimson Tide
Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball
The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball program has a history of being among the best of the Southeastern Conference . It trails only Kentucky in basketball wins, SEC tournament titles, and SEC regular season titles in the 12-member conference. The team is coached by head coach Anthony Grant,...
became the only school besides the University of Kentucky to win three straight Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
titles (1974, 1975, and 1976). Newton also guided Alabama to four NIT and two NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
tournament berths, prompting the school to name a recruiting suite in his honor in 2006.
Just as he did at Transylvania, Newton recruited Alabama's first black player, Wendell Hudson
Wendell Hudson
Wendell Hudson is a retired American basketball player and former Associate Athletics Director for Alumni Relations and the current eighth head women's basketball coach of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide....
, in 1969, integrating his second team in as many coaching stops.
Vanderbilt University
After resigning from the University of Alabama in 1980 to become assistant commissioner of the Southeastern ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
, Newton had no intentions of coaching again until he was approached by Roy Kramer
Roy Kramer
-External links:*...
, the athletics director for Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
. After only one year as assistant commissioner, Newton became coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt Commodores
The Vanderbilt Commodores are the NCAA athletic teams of Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The university fields 16 varsity teams , 14 of which compete in the Southeastern Conference...
, leading them to a 129–115 mark in eight seasons and berths in the NCAA tournament in 1988 and 1989.
NCAA Rules Committee
From 1979 to 1985 Newton served as chair of the NCAA Rules Committee. During his tenure the NCAA adopted the shot clockShot clock
A shot clock is used in some sports to quicken the pace of the game. It is normally associated with basketball, but has also found use in sports such as snooker, professional lacrosse, water polo, and korfball....
, the three point line
Three-point field goal
A three-point field goal is a field goal in a basketball game, made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc radiating from the basket...
, and the coaches' box.
University of Kentucky
In 1989 Newton's alma materAlma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
, the University of Kentucky, persuaded him to replace athletic director Cliff Hagan
Cliff Hagan
Clifford Oldham Hagan is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li'l Abner," played his entire 10-year NBA career with the St. Louis Hawks...
and help navigate the stormy waters of an NCAA probation. Newton's first move as AD was to hire then-New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
coach Rick Pitino
Rick Pitino
Rick Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996...
. The Wildcats bounced back from their probation with a core of mostly Kentucky-born players known affectionately to fans as "The Unforgettables." The group — consisting of Sean Woods
Sean Woods
Sean Woods is an American former basketball player who is currently serving as thehead coach of the Mississippi Valley State University men's basketball team. He had previously been an assistant coach at Texas Christian University....
, Deron Feldhaus, Richie Farmer and John Pelphrey
John Pelphrey
John Leslie Pelphrey is an American college basketball coach and was the 14th head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas . After being named Kentucky's "Mr. Basketball" in 1987, he became a star college player at the University of Kentucky. Prior to coaching the Razorbacks, he...
— lost in overtime in the East Regional final of the NCAA tournament to the Duke Blue Devils
Duke Blue Devils
Duke University's 26 varsity sports teams, known as the Blue Devils, compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The name comes from the French "les Diables Bleus" or "the Blue Devils," which was the nickname given during World War I to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French Alpine light infantry...
in a game many consider the greatest college basketball game ever played.
Newton also hired Bernadette Mattox, the university's first black women's basketball coach in 1995. In 1997 he hired Orlando "Tubby" Smith
Tubby Smith
Orlando "Tubby" Smith is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the men's basketball head coach at the University of Minnesota...
, the university's first black men's basketball coach, to replace Pitino, who had accepted a head coaching job with the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
.
On December 18, 1999, Newton was presented with the Annie Wittenmyer White Ribbon Award by the Women's Christian Temperance Union for refusing to allow alcohol advertising
Alcohol advertising
Alcohol advertising is the promotion of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of media. Along with tobacco advertising, it is one of the most highly-regulated forms of marketing...
at university sporting events.
In 2000 the University of Kentucky officially named its football playing field at Commonwealth Stadium
Commonwealth Stadium (Kentucky)
Commonwealth Stadium is the name of a stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. This stadium, named for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is located on the campus of the University of Kentucky and is the home field for the school's football team, replacing the smaller Stoll Field/McLean Stadium. The field...
the C.M. Newton Field.
USA Basketball
From 1992 to 1996, Newton served as the president of USA BasketballUSA Basketball
USA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee...
. It was on Newton's watch that the decision was made to allow professional basketball players to represent the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the Summer Olympics
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
. This decision gave rise to the 1992 "Dream Team."