Nat Holman (October 19, 1896 – February 12, 1995) 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 ...
player and college coach. He is a member of 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 ...
and is the only coach to lead his team to
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
and
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
(NIT) championships in the same season.
Early life
Holman was born on the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
in New York City, to Russian immigrant parents, and was Jewish.
[Holman, Nat: Jews In Sports]
/ref> He attended P.S. 62, and was then a star in basketball, soccer, and football at the High School of Commerce, graduated from the Savage School for Physical Education, and earned a master's degree from New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
. Known for his exceptional ball-handling and his accurate shooting, Holman was a star player for the NYU Violets men's basketball team.
Professional career
Holman was also an important player for the Original Celtics
The Original Celtics were a Barnstorm (sports), barnstorming professional American basketball team. At various times in their existence, the team played in the American Basketball League (1925–55), American Basketball League, the Eastern Basket ...
, which were no relation to the Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
. Also a gifted passer and excellent floor leader, Holman was a prototype of later playmakers.
Coaching career
Although he played pro basketball until 1930, he took over the head coaching position at the City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
in 1920. Known as Mr. Basketball, Holman guided CCNY
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, City ...
to the so-called grand slam of college basketball, winning ''both'' the NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
and NIT titles in 1950, a feat that has never been achieved before or since (and is no longer possible as the tournaments are now done concurrently).
In 1951, Holman's CCNY team became involved in a national point shaving
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to change the final score of a game without changing who wins. This is typically done by players colluding with gamblers to prevent a team from covering a p ...
scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
that involved seven different schools. While several CCNY players, including Ed Warner
Edward Emory Warner (June 20, 1889 – February 5, 1954) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He batted right-handed and threw left-handed.
He was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and died in New York ...
and Ed Roman were arrested, the investigation cleared Holman of any wrongdoing. The scandal eventually led CCNY to de-emphasize athletics (CCNY eventually dropped down to the NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...
in the 1963-64 season) and suspend Holman after the 1951–52 season. He returned for brief stints in 1954–56 and 1958–59, retiring for good in 1959. Holman compiled an overall record of 421–190 in 37 seasons at CCNY.
Holman also founded Camp Scatico
Camp Scatico is a brother-sister sleep-away camp for boys and girls located in the upper Hudson Valley of New York State, in the hamlet of Elizaville, which is in the town of Gallatin in Columbia County.
History
Camp Scatico has been in operat ...
in 1921 and ran the camp until he sold it to his niece and her husband in 1964.
In 1922, Holman wrote a book on basketball technique titled ''Scientific Basketball''.
In his later years, he lived and died at the Hebrew Home for the Aged
The Association of Jewish Aging Services (AJAS) was founded in 1960 as the North American Association of Jewish Homes and Housing for the Aging (NAJHHA). It was created and continues to function as the central coordinator for homes and residenti ...
in the Riverdale section of the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
.
He was inducted into the 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 pre ...
, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...
, the New York Basketball Hall of Fame, and the CCNY Hall of Fame.virtual-hall-of-fame
/ref>
Head coaching record
See also
* List of select Jewish basketball players
* List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach
This is a list of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament regional championships by coach. The current names of the NCAA tournament regions are the East, Midwest, South, and West. The winners of the four regions are awarded an NCAA Regiona ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holman, Nat
1896 births
1995 deaths
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from New York (state)
Basketball players from New York City
CCNY Beavers men's basketball coaches
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Jewish American sportspeople
Jewish men's basketball players
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
New York Whirlwinds players
NYU Violets men's basketball players
Original Celtics players
20th-century American Jews