— By Taylor Kennedy
Former Class AAA all-state selection Kevin English passed away last Sunday at 49.
A Beckley native, English will be remembered by many as a friend, family member, classmate, and teammate.
Beckley lost a legend today after the passing of Kevin English. Kevin was an Allstater and all tourney stud for the 1990 squad that beat Martinsburg for the 1990 state championship!! pic.twitter.com/EQroqkYlll
— Beckley Basketball (@wwhsbasketball) January 3, 2022
“I lived on one street, and I could go out my backyard into another street and be in his backyard,” said English’s former Flying Eagles’ teammate and closest friend Tink Brown. “We always played together. We never played against each other on separate teams.”
English and Brown were inseparable growing up. They played basketball together from youth league at the YMCA to high school.
Former Woodrow Wilson head coach Dave Barksdale saw a lot of potential in English at an early age.
“You could tell Kevin was going to be a tremendous player,” Barksdale stated. “He found a way to score. He was a great basketball player.”
English played basketball at Woodrow Wilson from 1986-90. He registered 821 career points in his prep career, and he also earned first-team Class AAA all-state honors as a senior.
Former Mountain State University head coach Bob Bolen saw the growth first-hand. Bolen served as English’s head coach in fifth grade at 19, then later as his assistant coach at Woodrow Wilson.
“His ability to get to the basket at 6-5,” Bolen says of English. “He had such one-on-one skills that if a 6-2 guard were on him, then he would take him inside. If they put a 6-7 center on him, he could get the ball and go by him any time.
“He could score any way you wanted him to, and he was unselfish. It was a rare combination.”
English’s personality never went unnoticed upon being approached.
Fred Persinger II, the current play-by-play voice for the Eagles, saw English’s kind-hearted traits.
“Kevin was one of the nicest guys you would ever know,” Persinger stated. “He was nice to everyone. If you were his friend, he cared about you a lot.”
The 1990 state tournament was a storybook one for the Eagles, who took care of business against Morgantown in the quarterfinal round. WWHS then faced nationally-ranked Logan (24-0) to advance to the state championship game.
Bolen recalls a speech made by English that will stick with him forever.
“I was in the locker room with them,” Bolen noted. “I was the only coach there. He started saying, ‘There is no possible way they can beat us. They are not better than us. We should bully them out of the gym.’
“When I was a young coach, I let him go. People would say we needed to get focused and play the number one team. No. I let him go.”
English finished that game with 30 points in front of a then-state tournament record crowd of 13,050.
English and Woodrow Wilson would capture the school’s first state championship in 23 years, defeating Martinsburg 81-75.
“I do not think we could have won it that season without him,” Brown stated. “He was a major part of the team. There was so much that he contributed to the team other than just scoring. He did a lot of the little things that do not show up on the stat sheet that made him a special player.”
Woodrow Wilson finished 23-4 that season, scoring 100 or more points in six of its first seven games and three times after that.
The Eagles went on to win five titles in the 1990s.
Former Marshall assistant coach Greg White, who later went on to be head coach at University of Charleston, recalls the first time he saw English play.
“[Former Marshall head coach and current Oregon head coach] Dana Altman and I were recruiting, and we saw him play in a summer league game in Beckley,” White noted. “I loved the way he ran the floor. Kevin had a unique and uncanny way of scoring the ball. He was super fast and quick. He had a personality on the court that was intimidating and dominating. You could tell he was going to be good.”
English enrolled at UC in 1991, and the Golden Eagles would win the WVIAC regular season and conference tournament championship in his first two seasons.
English had huge responsibilities on the court, but when White needed someone to sell the program, he knew he could rely on English.
“He was always great with recruits,” White stated. “When we brought recruits to campus, anything he could do for you he did.”
English sat out two seasons (1993-95) due to a knee injury. He returned to UC in the fall of 1995 under interim head coach Bryan Poore. English finished his final two seasons with the Golden Eagles recording 848 points.
“He brought the winning qualities whether it be playing defense or running the floor on the fast break,” White said. “When you come out of Woodrow Wilson High School, and you play under legendary coaches Dave Barksdale and Bob Bolen, then you walk on the college court, you have already seen a few things and been coached hard. The transition to Charleston was not difficult for him.”
Barksdale was approached not so long ago by a Wyoming County resident who told him that he wanted to be like English when he was growing up.
“He said that Kevin English was who he wanted to be growing up,” Barksdale noted. “He said that Kevin was the one that got him excited about being a basketball player.”
English influenced and touched many lives. Those closest to Kevin will never forget who he was, not only as a basketball player but as a human being.
“I am devastated for this to happen,” Barksdale said.
“He is gone way too early,” White added. “It is hard to lose a player regardless of the circumstance. This hit me hard.”