Height 5 ft 11.4 in (1.81 m) Name Feliksas Kriauciunas Died October 28, 1977 | Weight 178 lb (81 kg) Role Basketball Player | |
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Born August 18, 1911 Chicago, United States | ||
Feliksas Kriaučiūnas (Americanized his name as Phil Krause; born August 18, 1911 – October 28, 1977) was a Lithuanian American basketball player and coach. He won two gold medals with Lithuania national basketball team and silver medal with Lithuania women's national basketball team.
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Biography
Feliksas studied and played for University of Notre Dame team, along with his brother Moose Krause. 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. As soon as World War II begun in 1939, Kriaučiūnas and his brother travelled back to the United States. Feliksas played a total of 19 games, scoring 65 points. 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.