SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – Charles Martin “C.M.” Newton, enshrined as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, has passed away at the age of 88.
“C.M. Newton certainly made his mark on the game through the many roles he held in his decades-long illustrious basketball career,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “He notably led USAB as the team transitioned from college to professional players, but he made an impact at all levels of the game. Today, the basketball community celebrates the life and mourns the loss of this great man.”
C.M. Newton had tremendous success as a player, coach and administrator in his 50-year basketball career. 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 (1974-1976) and led the Crimson Tide to postseason play six times. In 1989, Newton returned to his alma mater as the Director of Athletics. He resurrected Kentucky’s basketball program and is also credited with hiring the school’s first African-American men’s and women’s basketball coaches, while serving on a number of NCAA Division I basketball committees. Newton served as President of USA Basketball from 1992 to 1996 and was a major influence in the selection of the original Olympic Dream Team of 1992. In 1997, Newton received the Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award.
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level – professional, collegiate and high school, for both men and women on the global stage.
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