A sad day for the Vanderbilt basketball family. BamaOnline reports that former Vanderbilt basketball coach C.M. Newton passed away on Monday at the age of 88.
Newton played basketball under Adolph Rupp at Kentucky, graduating in 1952, and became the head coach at Transylvania University in Lexington in 1956, posting a 169-137 record. When Alabama athletic director Bear Bryant was looking for a new basketball coach in 1968, he called Rupp (who had been Kentucky’s basketball coach while Bryant was the football coach there) and Rupp recommended Newton. Newton went 211-123 as Alabama’s basketball coach, winning three SEC titles and guiding the Tide to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances.