Feliksas Kriaučiūnas
 Feliksas Kriaučiūnas around 1940s | |||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Born |
August 18, 1911 Chicago, United States | ||||||||||||||||||
| Died |
October 28, 1977 (aged 66) Chicago, United States | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11.4 in (1.81 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 178 lb (81 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Feliksas Kriaučiūnas (Americanized his name as Phil Krause; born August 18, 1911 – October 28, 1977[1]) was an Lithuanian basketball player and coach. He won two gold medals with Lithuania national basketball team and silver medal with Lithuania women's national basketball team.
Biography
Feliksas studied and played for University of Notre Dame team, along with his brother Edvardas Kriaučiūnas. Later he moved to DePaul University and played for their university team. In 1935, along with other Lithuanian Americans, he started teaching Lithuanians how to play basketball. He was Lithuania national basketball team player-coach and team captain during EuroBasket 1937 and EuroBasket 1939.[2] Feliksas totally played 19 games and scored 65 points combined. He also was head coach of Lithuania women's national basketball team during the first ever women's EuroBasket in 1938, where Lithuania won silver medals. He also firmly contributed in developing nowadays basketball in Lithuania.
State awards
- Order of Vytautas the Great Officer Cross (1937)
References
- ↑ United States Social Security Death Index, FamilySearch. (English)
- ↑ The Motherland, the Godfather, and the Birth of a Basketball Dynasty: American Efforts to Promote Basketball in Lithuania, Eastern Illinois University, p. 14. (English)
- Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989 – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989