Holman, "Nat" (Nathan)
Basketball
b. Oct. 18, 1896, New York, NY
d. Feb. 12, 1995
Often referred to as "Mr. Basketball" because of his long association with the sport, Holman played his first professional game in 1916 with a Hoboken, NJ, team. He scored 23 points in Hoboken's 28-25 victory.
A 5-foot-11 guard, Holman played for several professional teams during the next few years. In 1920, he joined the New York Whirlwinds, one of the best teams of the era. The Whirlwinds played a long-awaited series against the Original Celtics in 1921. They won the first game, 40-27, with Holman scoring 22 points, but lost the second, 26-24. The third game was never played.
Jim Furey, owner of the Celtics, persuaded Holman and two other Whirlwind stars to play for his team. For the next decade, the Celtics dominated professional basketball. Holman captained the team, which was equivalent to coaching it. Known as an outstanding floor general, he also had an accurate two-handed set shot.
A graduate of the Savage School of Physical Education, Holman became a professor at City College of New York in 1917 and he began coaching the school's basketball team in 1920. He retired from playing in 1933 to concentrate on coaching.
CCNY won both the NCAA tournament and the National Invitation Tournament in 1950, the only school to accomplish that. A year later, players from seven colleges were implicated in a point-shaving scandal and two CCNY players were convicted. The school reacted by de-emphasizing basketball and Holman resigned after the 1951-52 season. However, he returned as coach in 1955-56 and 1959-60. His record was 422 victories and 188 defeats.