Charles Martin "C.M." Newton

As a player, a coach, and an administrator for over 50 years C.M. Newton’s touch has enhanced the game’s integrity and helped ensure basketball’s success. On the court, Newton played with the 1950-51 University of Kentucky team that compiled a 32-2 record and won the NCAA national championship. Newton continued his winning ways as a coach at Transylvania College, the University of Alabama, and Vanderbilt University. At Alabama, Newton won SEC championships three years in a row from 1974 to 1976 and led the Crimson Tide to postseason play six times. In 1989, Newton returned to his alma mater as the new director of athletics. In addition to resurrecting Kentucky’s basketball program, Newton is also credited with hiring the school’s first African-American men’s and women’s basketball coaches. Newton, who served on a number of NCAA Division I basketball committees, was president of USA Basketball from 1992 to 1996, when the United States Olympic team went from college to professional players. He was also a major influence in the selection of the original Olympic Dream Team of 1992.