Author: Tim O’Donnell
In a day and age when many coaches use Division-III athletics as a platform to further their careers and advance to higher levels, Tiger head men’s basketball and tennis coach Brian Newhall — now in his 26th year on the job — has remained a permanent fixture on Occidental’s campus.
“Philosophically, I’ve found the perfect spot,” Newhall said. “Most importantly, I’m dealing with people I like working with. It’s never really seemed like work for me.”
Newhall, the youngest of five children, followed in the footsteps of his older siblings and attended Occidental, where he played both basketball and tennis. After finishing his hoops career as the SCIAC Player of the Year in 1983, Newhall embarked on an overseas journey to Amelie-les-Bains, a small town in southern France. There he played and coached basketball professionally and served as a tennis instructor.
Upon returning to the United States, Newhall received a job as the junior varsity coach at his alma mater before eventually replacing his mentor, Bill Westphal, as the men’s varsity basketball coach in 1987.
The black and orange has undergone numerous oscillations of success throughout his tenure. In 2003, the Tigers went 14-0 in SCIAC play and reached the Elite Eight, advancing the furthest in the NCAA Tournament of any team in league history. Eight seasons later, Occidental took a loss to Caltech, a squad that had previously lost 310 straight conference games.
But Newhall does not rate his teams solely based upon their success.
“The teams you remember are the teams that are hard workers,” he said. “That’s what makes it fun; when the camaraderie and team chemistry amongst the players is very high.”
As a young coach, Newhall went through natural growing pains. In his first season, the team finished the season in frustrating fashion after several key injuries after getting off to an 11-0 start.
“I probably alienated a lot of people,” he said. “That was my first year on the job, and I had all the answers.”
Some of his best memories come from his first two seasons as Occidental’s junior varsity coach when he helped develop first-year talent. His pride in the young teams stemmed from their hustle and physicality. Newhall muses that their games were reminiscent of the ‘80s battles between Pat Riley’s New York Knicks and Chuck Daly’s “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons.
Newhall faced several coaches early on in his career who he holds in high regard.
This elite list includes David Wells (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps) — father to current Occidental Sports Information Director Michael Wells, Dave Jacobs (Whittier) and Gary Smith (Redlands) as well as current San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, formerly of Pomona.
Newhall claims the SCIAC community of coaches is close-knit and lacks animosity. And now, as the elder statesman of the conference, he looks to continue the rich legacy that the coaches before him have left behind.
“[Newhall] is a great ambassador for basketball and the conference,” assistant coach Will Morris, who has known Newhall for over 20 years, said.
Morris gave insight on Newhall’s ability to handle the pressures of Division-III coaching. Unlike at the Division-I level, Newhall understands that his players come to Occidental mainly for academic purposes and believes his goal is to help develop them in all facets of life.
“I think we can help shape people more and more,” Newhall said. “Our philosophy is to give a good quality experience.”
In addition to basketball, he has also returned to the tennis court as the men’s head coach. Newhall played both sports competitively dating back to his days as an Oregon youth and believes that he is probably more skilled with a racket than a roundball.
Newhall was the head varsity tennis coach from 1987-94 but decided to put it on the back-burner to focus on basketball and spend more time with his family. With his children older and more self-sufficient, he resumed his old position last year, believing that the team has a chance to reach a national top 30 ranking.
Throughout his career, Newhall has become even more of an anomaly by coaching two sports — something once common in collegiate athletics — and he understands that potential tennis recruits may be suspicious of his commitment to the sport.
But inevitably, he believes his passion for both sports wins over recruits.
“We all get to know [Newhall] on a personal level,” tennis player Avery Howard (sophomore) said. “None of us feel second to basketball.”
Newhall expects to keep his dual coaching responsibilities and his title as Associate Director of Athletics for the foreseeable future.
“I love both of those [sports],” Newhall said. “I think we’re going to get better and better as time goes on. Smart coaches keep learning and adjusting and adapting.”
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