Nat Holman(1896-1995)
Nat Holman was one of the most legendary basketball players and coaches
in the history of the game. He was also one of the most accurate
shooters who ever played and contributed heavily to the sport's
development. Among his achievements as a pro was as a member of the
Original Celtics in the 1920s. Simultaneously and afterward, he coached
the City College of New York Beavers from 1919 to 1960. Holman's most
legendary achievement, however, was that he coached the CCNY team that
won both the NCAA and NIT championship tournaments in 1950--the only
team ever to do so. After his retirement, Holman was enshrined at the
Basketball Hall of Fame on 1 October 1964. He spent his later years as
the president of the United States Committee of Sports for Israel, the
organization that sponsors the US Maccabiah Games team. Holman's last
years were spent at the Hebrew Home for the Aged, a nursing home in the
Bronx, where he died of natural causes.