Newton also played basketball (1951 national champion) and baseball for the Cats. Newton was hired as the athletic director at UK in 1989 and served Kentucky until 2000. Mitch Barnhart has said on record that Newton recommended John Calipari during the 2009 coaching search.
He was born in Rockwood, Tenn., but his family moved to Fort Lauderdale during the Great Depression before Newton turned one.
Newton didn’t make the Hall of Fame because of his basketball accolades as a player at UK. He played in just 22 games as a Wildcat basketball player. He scored 27 points in his UK career, but Hall of Famer Frank Ramsey said that he won UK the 1951 Eastern Regional championship because of Newton’s defensive contributions.