Nat Holman

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.