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 ...

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 Cit ...

(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, th ...

. 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 barnstorming professional American basketball team. At various times in their existence, the team played in the American Basketball League, the Eastern Basketball League and the Metropolitan Basketball League. The tea ...

, 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

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

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 and

Ed Roman Edward Roman (June 2, 1930 – March 1, 1988) was an American college basketball player. He was the leading scorer of the 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team, the only team to win both the NCAA tournament and the National Invitation Tou ...

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 ...

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

References

External links