Carl Blair Bennett (December 7, 1915 – May 15, 2013) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

general manager and head coach. He was born in Rockford, Indiana and began his sports career by playing

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

. Bennett was recruited by Fred Zollner in 1938 to join his staff. He coached the

Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL) and then the Fort Wayne Pistons of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

(BAA). for six games in 1948–49. Bennett became the franchise's general manager and served in that capacity from 1948 to 1954. Bennett endured a 15-year campaign to get Zollner inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

, which occurred in 1999. Bennett died at the age of 97 in 2013.Carl Bennett, former Zollner Pistons coach, Mad Anthonys founder, dies , The Journal Gazette

Head coaching record

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Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 United S ...

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References

External links

Coaching record
@ basketball-reference.com 1915 births 2013 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Indiana Fort Wayne Pistons head coaches Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons coaches {{US-basketball-coach-stub