League NBA Name Don Newman Nationality American Role Basketball Coach | Pro career 1980–1983 Coaching career 1986–present Positions Guard | |
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Born November 22, 1957 (age 66)
New Orleans, Louisiana ( 1957-11-22 ) High school Brother Martin
(New Orleans, Louisiana) NBA draft 1980 / Round: 3 / Pick: 69th overall | ||
Education Florida Gateway College | ||
Donald David "Don" Newman (born November 22, 1957) is an American basketball coach and former player and former Canadian football wide receiver, currently an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association.
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He was head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils from 1997 to 1998, and the Sacramento State from 1992 to 1997. He also was an assistant coach in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets and the San Antonio Spurs, and is currently an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards.
Early life
Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Newman graduated from its Brother Martin High School in 1975.
College career
Newman attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge as a freshman in the 1975–76 season and played on the LSU Tigers basketball team. After the year, he transferred to Lake City Junior College and Grambling State University and then in fall 1977 to the University of Idaho in Moscow. Newman played one game at Lake City and did not play at Grambling. After sitting out a year due to transfer rules, Newman played for the Idaho Vandals from 1978 to 1980 under head coach Don Monson.
Football career
Although he never played college football, Newman tried out for the Seattle Seahawks as a cornerback in 1981. He played in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1981–1983), Montreal Concordes (1984), Ottawa Rough Riders (1985), and Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1986) as a wide receiver.
High school
Returning to northern Idaho in 1985, Newman was an assistant football coach at Lewiston High School for a season, then an assistant football coach and sophomore basketball coach at Moscow High School; he also worked as shoe department manager at a local store while coaching high school sports. Newman earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Idaho in 1987.
College
From 1987 to 1992, Newman was an assistant coach at neighboring Washington State in Pullman under Kelvin Sampson, and earned his master's degree in education from WSU in 1989. The Cougars made the NIT in his final year as an assistant there.
From 1992 to 1997, Newman was head coach of Sacramento State. In five seasons with a Hornets program that was transitioning from Division II to Division I, he had a 20–114 (.149) record. He then became an assistant at Arizona State in Tempe, and was appointed the head coach in September 1997 following the resignation of Bill Frieder. In his only season at ASU, Newman had an 18–14 record, concluded with a first-round loss in the NIT.
NBA
In 1999, Newman became an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks under George Karl, and moved to the New Jersey Nets in 2003. In 2004, Newman joined Gregg Popovich's staff at the San Antonio Spurs. After eight seasons with the Spurs that included two NBA titles in 2005 and 2007, he joined Randy Wittman's staff at the Washington Wizards in 2012.