Pete graduated from St. Agnes High School in Los Angeles in 1933 and went on to attend what is now known as Loyola Marymount University. There he played basketball for three seasons. His main fame came later in coaching and is regarded as one of the greatest of all-time. He coached at the University of San Francisco (won the 1949 NIT), Michigan State and California-Berkeley, where he led the Bears to the 1959 NCAA Title. He then coached the 1960 USA Olympic Team to the Rome Olympic Gold Medal.

He was the first coach in history to win the ‘Triple Crown’ of the NCAA and NIT titles, plus the Olympic Gold Medal. He retired from coaching in 1960 and became the California-Berkeley Athletic Director for eight years. He later became General Manager for the Los Angeles Lakers and helped engineer the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trade that helped the team to many NBA titles. He was inducted into the Naismith HOF in 1979 and again later when the 1960 Olympic Team was inducted in 2010. He passed away on November 17, 2008.