Claude English

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Claude English

| image =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 4

| weight_lb = 185

| league =

| team =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|12|26}}

| birth_place = Columbus, Georgia, U.S.

| highschool = South Girard
(Phenix City, Alabama)

| college = Rhode Island (1968–1970)

| draft_year = 1970

| draft_round = 7

| draft_pick = 110

| draft_team = Portland Trail Blazers

| career_start = 1970

| career_end = 1975

| career_number = 15

| career_position = Small forward

| coach_start = 1971

| coach_end = 1984

| years1 = {{nbay|1970|full=y}}

| team1 = Portland Trail Blazers

| years2 = 1971–1974

| team2 = Hartford Capitols

| years3 = 1974–1975

| team3 = Cherry Hill Pros

| cyears1 = 1971–1980

| cteam1 = Rhode Island (assistant)

| cyears2 = 1980–1984

| cteam2 = Rhode Island

| cteam3 = Park

| cyears3 = 1992–2005

| highlights =

As player:

EBA champion (1974)

As head coach:

Atlantic 10 co-Coach of the Year (1981)
2× American Midwest Conference Coach of the Year (1996, 1998)

}}

Claude W. English (born December 26, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and collegiate coach. He spent one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Portland Trail Blazers during their inaugural 1970–71 season. He was drafted by the Blazers in the seventh round (110{{sup|th}} pick overall) during the 1970 NBA draft from the University of Rhode Island.

English played in the Eastern Basketball Association (EBA) for the Hartford Capitols and Cherry Hill Pros from 1971 to 1975.{{cite web |title=Claude English minor league basketball statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-englicla001 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=February 10, 2025}} He won an EBA championship with the Capitols in 1974.{{cite web |title=1973-74 Hartford Capitols Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/t-EBAHFC/y-1973 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=March 5, 2025}}

Coaching/Athletic Director Career

English returned to the University of Rhode Island, where he began a tenure as an assistant basketball coach shortly after his NBA career ended. English then served as the head coach at Rhode Island from 1980 to 1984.{{cite web | title=Columbus native Claude English named AMC AD of the Year | website=Columbus Ledger-Enquirer | date=8 July 2017 | url=https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/latest-news/article160275694.html | access-date=18 February 2024}}

Since 1996, English has served as the athletic director at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. English served as head men's basketball coach at Park University from 1992 through 2005, being named the American Midwest Conference Coach of the Year in 1996 and in 1998. In 2010, English was inducted into the McLendon Minority Athletics Administrators Hall of Fame in Anaheim, California. In 2011, English was inducted into the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame, in his hometown of Phenix City, Alabama. In 2017, English was named the American Midwest Conference Athletic Director of the Year.{{Cite web|url=http://www.parkathletics.com/staff/1|title=Claude English - Athletic Staff|website=Park University Athletics}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.parkathletics.com/wallofhonor/id/5|title=Claude W. English - Wall of Honor|website=Park University Athletics}}

Of his athletic director career, English said "I’m just a coach who coaches the coaches. That’s the way I always see my job. I want to motivate other people the way I’m motivated."{{cite news| title=2011 Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame: Basketball takes Claude English from South Girard to NBA |newspaper=Columbus Ledger-Enquirer | date=4 February 2011 | url=https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/sports/other-sports/article29173789.html | access-date=18 February 2024}}

Career statistics

=NBA=

Source{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/englicl01.html|title=Claude English NBA stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=7 December 2024}}

==Regular season==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG
style="text-align:left;"\|{{nbay\|1970}} \| style="text-align:left;"\|Portland \| 18	3.9	.262	.714	1.1	.3	1.5

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"

Year

! Team

! GP

! MPG

! FG%

! FT%

! RPG

! APG

! PPG

style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1970}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Portland