Carl Blair Bennett (December 7, 1915 – May 15, 2013) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

general manager and head coach.Obituary
/ref> He was born in Rockford, Indiana and began his sports career by playing

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

. Bennett was recruited by

Fred Zollner Fred Zollner (January 22, 1901 – June 21, 1982), nicknamed "Mr. Pro Basketball", was the founder and owner along with his sister Janet of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons) and a key figure in the merger of National Bas ...

in 1938 to join his staff. He coached the

Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL) and then the

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

(BAA). for six games in 1948–49. Bennett became the franchise's general manager and served in that capacity from 1948 to 1954. Bennett endured a 15-year campaign to get Zollner inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

, which occurred in 1999. Bennett died at the age of 97 in 2013.Carl Bennett, former Zollner Pistons coach, Mad Anthonys founder, dies , The Journal Gazette

References

External links

@ basketball-reference.com 1915 births 2013 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Indiana Fort Wayne Pistons head coaches Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons coaches {{US-basketball-coach-stub