Nov. 21, 2000

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

Former University of Wyoming Head Volleyball Coach Mike English died on Monday, Nov. 20, in Lakewood, Colo., he was 48 years old. He was a resident in the Long-Term Supported Living Program at Learning Services in Lakewood.

Arrangements for a memorial service for English will be announced early next week.

He was hired as head volleyball coach at the University of Wyoming on Jan. 10, 1986. No one could have predicted the immediate and long-lasting impact English would have on Cowgirl volleyball. His seven-year career speaks for itself. He guided the Cowgirls to Wyoming's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in his first season (1986). He would later lead Wyoming to two more NCAA appearances in 1989 and '90. In the 1989 NCAA Tournament, Wyoming emerged as the "Cinderella" of the championship, defeating heavily-favored Stanford and earning its way to the Elite Eight before falling to UCLA on the Bruins' homecourt in the West Regional Final.

English has won more matches (124) and posted a higher winning percentage (59.0 percent) than any coach in UW volleyball history. He ended his career with a 124-86 record at Wyoming and a 253-161 (.611) career record, including six years (1980-85) at the University of Missouri. English earned High Country Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1987 and 1989 and was named West Region Co-Coach of the Year in '89.

On Dec. 12, 1993, the University of Wyoming, the Laramie community and the college volleyball world were shocked to hear that English had been seriously injured in an auto accident between Laramie and Fort Collins, Colo. He suffered a traumatic brain injury in the crash, which left him 100 percent disabled.

On Aug. 16, 1995, Nancy English and the University of Wyoming Athletics Department announced the establishment of the Mike English Women's Volleyball Scholarship at the University of Wyoming. The scholarship honors English who coached the Cowgirl volleyball team from 1986 to 1993.

The scholarship is awarded annually to the University of Wyoming women's volleyball senior with the highest cumulative grade-point average. Recipients of the scholarship must already be athletic scholarship student-athletes at UW as generally defined by the regulations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

English is survived by his wife Nancy.