George Mason announced Tuesday that it is hiring Tennessee assistant and former Missouri star Kim English as its next coach. English, 32, has been regarded as a budding talent in coaching since starting out as a Tulsa assistant in 2015.
“Kim English is a rising star in the college basketball world,” George Mason athletic director Brad Edwards said. “He is a tremendous communicator, tireless worker and a natural leader. He develops a unique rapport with his players, which fuels their development and enriches their overall experience as student-athletes. His success at the highest levels of the game, elite recruiting ability and knowledge of the DMV area will provide our program with an outstanding foundation to establish a standard of competitive excellence in the Atlantic 10 and at the national level.”
English, a Baltimore native, scored 1,570 points during a four-year career at Missouri under coaches Mike Anderson and Frank Haith before he was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft. He appeared in 41 games for Detroit as a rookie before playing overseas until 2015.
He then reunited with Haith and spent two seasons on staff at Tulsa, two seasons at Colorado, and most recently, two seasons at Tennessee. With the Volunteers, he helped land five-star prospects Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson out of the class of 2020.
“I am so incredibly grateful and honored to accept the position of head coach at George Mason University,” English said. “I would like to thank president Dr. Gregory Washington, director of athletics Brad Edwards and the entire search committee for their time and effort through this entire process. I really enjoyed everyone’s ‘Why George Mason?’ stories. It reaffirmed what I already knew – that the leadership at Mason is in great alignment and the commitment to our students and student-athletes is at the forefront of everyone’s ‘Why.’ The passion that the Mason Family has for this place is something of which I’m so excited to be a part.”
English will replace Dave Paulsen, who was fired this month after compiling a 95-91 record in six seasons. The Patriots have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2011, but the program does have some history to draw upon. George Mason made five NCAA Tournament appearances between 1999 and 2011 under Jim Larranaga, including an improbable run to the 2006 Final Four as a No. 11 seed.