Park University Director of Athletics Claude English was inducted into the McLendon Minority Athletics Administrators Hall of Fame June 23 in Anaheim, Calif., representing the NAIA in a group of seven individuals who will be honored for their service as minority administrators by the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. – Park University Director of Athletics Claude English was inducted into the McLendon Minority Athletics Administrators Hall of Fame June 23 in Anaheim, Calif., representing the NAIA in a group of seven individuals who will be honored for their service as minority administrators by the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation.

The Foundation supports the John McLendon Memorial Minority Postgraduate Scholarship Awards is presented to senior-level minority students who intend to pursue a graduate degree in athletics administration.

Speaking on behalf of the group of hall of fame inductees, National Football League special advisor to the Commissioner Michael Haynes opened, “On behalf of the inductees, thank you for this honor.

“The men and women up here have made a difference in so many ways,” Haynes said. “We’ve been given an opportunity to make a change in the communities in which we live and (at) the universities we love.”

English was joined in the hall of fame induction class by Percy Bates, Bernie Bickerstaff, Howard Gentry, Sr., Haynes, Rafer Johnson and Don Newcombe, while a second group of Pioneer Award winners was also honored. That group included Barry Alvarez, Ernie Davis, Mike Garrett, Tom Goss, Dan Guerrero, Charles Harris, Tommy Hawkins, Kim Ng, Fritz Pollard, Burl Toler and Tyrone Willingham.

English began his affiliation with Park University in the 1992-93 men’s basketball season, coaching the Pirates through the end of the 2004-05 campaign. For his final 10 seasons at the helm of the Park men’s basketball program, English also assumed the duties of Director of Athletics, a position he will continue into his 15th year in the 2010-11 academic year.

English is the winningest coach in Park University men’s basketball history, compiling 182 wins to push his overall win total to 227. From 1981 to 1984, English was the head men’s basketball coach at his alma mater, Rhode Island, where he was named Atlantic-10 Conference Coach of the Year in the 1981-82 season.

His coaching tenure at Park was highlighted by the Pirates’ run to the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinal round in 1997-98, which ended with a school-record mark of 27-8. English was honored at the national tournament with the Charles A. Krigel Award for outstanding sportsmanship, while his team was awarded the Dr. James Naismith-Emil S. Liston Sportsmanship Award for the team recognized as most sportsmanlike at the tourney.

After a stellar collegiate playing career for Christian College in Dallas, Texas, and the University of Rhode Island, English was selected in the NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers where he played the 1970-71 season. English also played in the Eastern Basketball Association for the Hartford Capitals, the affiliate team for the Philadelphia 76ers. In 1973-74, English won the Eastern Basketball Association Championship with the Capitals. He was a three-year captain at Hartford.

As Director of Athletics at Park, the Pirates have captured 47 conference championships, and in each of his 14 previous seasons as athletics director, at least one Park program has advanced to NAIA postseason play each year.

Also during his run as Director of Athletics, 77 student-athletes have been named NAIA All-Americans, and 161 student-athletes have earned Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete honors. In 2008-09, Park University’s department of athletics carried an overall grade point average better than 3.0, and the Pirates earned a school record seven NAIA scholar teams, marking more than half of the department’s programs posting a team GPA of 3.0 or better.