Former Hawkeye Don Nelson Recognized Among Best NBA Coaches
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Don Nelson was going to test the coaching waters after finishing his Iowa basketball career in 1962.
“Our coach (at Iowa), Sharm Scheuerman, had asked us to coach the freshman team, and we were going to divide $6,000,” recalled Nelson’s former Rock Island High School and Iowa teammate, Joel Novak, in a 2015 interview. “That was a lot of money at the time. Nellie was going to stay and get his degree. But all of a sudden he said, “I’m going to go pro and finish my degree later.’ I didn’t blame him. He was a hot property.”
So Novak, who passed away in 2020, enrolled in law school at the University of Iowa and went on to become a highly respected district court judge. Nelson was selected in the third round of the 1962 NBA Draft and had a long and successful career as a player and coach in the NBA. So successful that Nelson, 82, was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history earlier this month. The top 15 were selected by a panel of 43 current and former NBA coaches, and was released as part of the league’s 75th anniversary.
That is one more blue ribbon on the gift to basketball that Don Nelson truly was. Scheuerman, another former Rock Island prep star, successfully recruited Nelson. His other two choices were Wheaton College and Augustana of Illinois.
Freshmen weren’t eligible when Nelson enrolled at Iowa in the fall of 1958. But he made a name for himself by scoring 25 points in the annual freshman-varsity game held before the season started.
A year later, he was expected to make a significant impact in Scheuerman’s second season as head coach. His bio in the Iowa media guide read:
“Sharm calls him one of the most promising sophomores…seems destined for starting berth at center…6-7 and 210…jumps exceptionally well…rebounds tough and strong…a top scorer with either a fine hook or jump shot…speedy and agile for his size…Sharm calls him his “ace in the bag.”...was fine prep player at Rock Island…physical education major…born 5-15-40.” Nelson averaged 15.8 points and 10 rebounds a game as a sophomore, and was named the team’s most valuable player. He was so impressive that he found himself on the cover of the 1960-61 Hawkeye media guide. He was moved from center to forward. He was also asked to do more than expected.
The season actually started with a lot of buzz about an incoming freshman from Brooklyn, N.Y., named Connie Hawkins. Newspapers labeled him “a highly-touted 6-7 forward.” David Wolf’s book, “Foul,” tells the story of how a poorly-educated Brooklyn kid made it to Iowa City. And Iowa wasn’t the only school chasing him. In the summer of 1960, when it looked like Hawkins would end of up at Colorado, Ohio State Coach Fred Taylor appeared at a coaching school in Spirit Lake.
Taylor, who had also offered Hawkins a scholarship but wasn’t a finalist, said, “They tell me he’ll be another Oscar Robertson.”
When he picked Iowa, fans couldn’t wait to see Hawkins on the same floor with Nelson. But it only happened once. It was the annual freshman-varsity game. Hawkins scored 24 points as the freshmen lost to the varsity, 73-55, before a crowd of 4,000 at Iowa Fieldhouse. Nelson scored 13 for the varsity.
Hawkins’ Iowa career never got off the ground. He left school in May of 1961 after being caught up in a New York City point-shaving scandal. He was never found guilty, but was banned from
the NBA until 1969. He played for the Harlem Globetrotters and in the ABA until the NBA opened its doors. Hawkins was 75 when he died in 2017.
When he was enshrined in the Des Moines Sunday Register Sports Hall of Fame in 1983, Nelson touched on the fact that he never got to play with Hawkins.
“If Connie had stayed, we would have had a great team,” Nelson said. “I feel we could have edged out Ohio State in my junior and senior seasons.”
The defending national champion Buckeyes, led by Jerry Lucas, Larry Siegfried and John Havlicek, were loaded and ranked No. 1. Iowa was ranked No. 9 but reeling when they met in Iowa City on Feb. 18, 1961.
Four Hawkeye starters - center Frank Allen, forward Tom Harris and guards Ron Zagar and Dave Maher - were ruled academically ineligible with nine games to play. Nelson, the lone remaining starter, put the team on his shoulders.
“I felt more responsibility and my teammates expected me to carry a bigger portion of the load,” Nelson told the Register in 1983.
After upsetting Indiana in Bloomington, Iowa welcomed Ohio State and its 24-game winning streak to town. Nelson was magnificent, and the Hawkeyes led the entire game until Siegfried’s steal and basket gave the Buckeyes a 60-59 lead. It was 62-59 when Nelson scored with :44 to play. And after a steal, Nelson got one more shot to knock off No. 1, but missed from inside the lane.
“I prayed and hoped,” Nelson said of his would-be game winner.
Teammate Dick Shaw beat the buzzer with a tip-in attempt, but the ball rolled off the rim. Nelson and Lucas went toe-to-toe the entire game. Nelson finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Lucas had 25 points and 11 rebounds,
That depleted Iowa team would win six of those last nine games to tie for second in the Big Ten and finish 18-6 overall. The Hawkeyes were ranked sixth nationally in the final poll. Nelson was a first-team all-Big Ten pick after averaging 23.8 points and 10.6 rebounds. His teammates thought he was an all-American.
Nelson and Novak shared the cover of the 1961-62 media guide, but the Hawkeyes struggled to a 13-11 season. Nelson again averaged 23.8 points, added 11.9 rebounds and was a repeat first-team all-Big Ten pick. He left as Iowa’s career scorer with 1,522 points and is now 15th. For his 72-game Hawkeye career, Nelson averaged 21.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and was a three-time Iowa MVP.
His pro career got off to a slow start with the Zephyrs and Los Angeles Lakers, but things changed dramatically when Nelson joined the Boston Celtics in 1965. He played on five NBA World Championship teams, in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1976, his final season. The franchise retired his No. 19 jersey.
Nelson finished with 10,898 points and 5,192 rebounds in 1,053 games. Unsure what to do next, he spent some time officiating in the Los Angeles Summer Pro League. He decided to try coaching when Larry Costello of the Milwaukee Bucks offered him a job. When Costello was fired just 14 games into the season, Nelson became a head coach in the NBA. Nelson was also the head coach for the New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors before retiring in 2010. He left as the winningest all-time coach with 1,335 victories in 2,398 games over 31 seasons. He was also a three-time NBA Coach of the Year.
Two years later, and 50 years after he left Iowa, Nelson returned to Iowa City to join the Class of 2012 and receive his degree in physical education. He sat with other members of the class, dressed in cap and gown, and fittingly accepted that degree in his alma mater’s basketball arena.
“It was a goal of mine, and I achieved it,” said Nelson, who was 10 hours short of his degree when he headed for the NBA and completed the required hours in foreign language through correspondence.
Nelson said that some much younger members of the Class of 2012 wanted to meet him. “They said their dad remembered me,” he told the Des Moines Register.
