Nat Holman retired from coaching in 1960 to devote his time to playing golf, operating his 250-acre summer camp, serving as President for the United States Committee for Sports for Israel, and traveling the world promoting his style of play and the game of basketball. In 1949 Holman made his first trip to Israel to teach the Israelis the game of basketball. There he set up clinics on playing techniques, coaching and leadership. Enjoying the experience and impressed with their eagerness to learn, Holman started traveling to other corners of the world—Canada, Japan, Turkey, Mexico, Hawaii and Taiwan— to set up basketball clinics and teach young coaches the game of basketball.
A devoted reader and writer, Holman published four books—Scientific Basketball (1922), Winning Basketball (1933), Championship Basketball (1942), and Holman on Basketball (1951). These books have become standard texts for students who want to play better basketball. In addition Holman also authored a bibliography (1940) and 51 articles on basketball, plus a pamphlet, "Headline Notes on Basketball." He also produced two motion pictures on basketball: College Basketball and Championship Basketball. He was a member of National Collegiate Basketball Coaches Association and was its president in 1941. He was also a member of the American Association of University Professors. Holman made numerous television, radio, and public appearances. The genius Holman exhibited as a pro he applied to his coaching at City College, making him one of the few to reach the pinnacle both as player and coach.
In his long and illustrious association with basketball, many honors came his way. In 1950, American sportswriters named him to the Associated Press' "First Team of the Half-Century (1900-1950)" as the third greatest player of that era (behind George Mikan and Hank Luisetti). In 1951 the Editors of Sport Magazine selected him "Man of the Year." In 1964 he was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1968 inducted into the City College of New York Athletics Hall of Fame. And in 1979 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Today the legacy of Nat Holman continues to live on in the gymnasium that bears his name on the campus of City College.
