[6] After serving in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946,[1] Newell was appointed head men's basketball coach at the University of San Francisco in 1946.
During his four-year tenure at USF, Newell compiled a 70–37 record and coached the Dons to the 1949 National Invitation Tournament championship.
Newell was very successful at Cal, compiling a 119–44 (.730) record, winning four consecutive PCC/AAWU titles from 1957 to 1960, and leading the Golden Bears to two straight appearances in the NCAA tournament championship game—which they won in 1959.
At Berkeley, he became a faculty initiate of the Nu chapter of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity where player Darrall Imhoff was a member.
Newell also coached the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team to a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, leading a talented squad that featured future National Basketball Association (NBA) stars and Hall of Famers Walt Bellamy, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Jerry Lucas.
[10] After a short stint in Houston, to assist with the transfer, Pete returned to the west coast and later joined the Los Angeles Lakers.
After Washington's game rapidly improved, more and more big men started to work with Newell, and he later opened the camp.
[11] The camp was almost seen as standard for players coming out of college into the NBA; according to ESPN's Ric Bucher, "[f]or the past 24 years, every big man of any significance has spent at least one summer week trying to get close enough to Pete.
"[3] From the time Newell opened the camp in 1976 until his death, he never accepted any money for his services, stating that "I owe it to the game.
His son, Pete Newell Jr., coached the Santa Cruz High School boys' basketball team to the California state championship in 2005.
Another son, Tom Newell, is a longtime NBA scout and assistant coach who has recently worked on international basketball projects in China and Russia.
His 3rd son, Roger, was the first person to bring computer software and analytics to the NBA in 1982 thru 2000 with the Newell Productivity System.