Bill English set point record in basketball at WSSU

To say that Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors was historic doesn't begin to describe what took place recently.

Kobe Bryant put together the greatest regular season scoring exhibition in the NBA since Wilt Chamberlain hit the century mark against the Knicks in 1962.

But did you know that in the 1960s a player from Winston-Salem State scored 77 points in one game. Earl Monroe, right? Wrong. The Pearl is second on the list, with an impressive 68-point performance.

The man who hold's both WSSU and the CIAA's record for points in a single game is none other than William "Bill" English.

On February 19, 1968 English dropped 77 on Fayetteville State in a 146-74 win. English outscored the entire FSU squad that night in Whitaker Gymnasium. In his book They Call Me Big House, Coach Big House Gaines said simply, "Bill was hot, and the other players sensed it. They kept feeding him the ball."

The three-point line was nonexistent in the CIAA or most of basketball in general at the time. The three-point line was invented in the late 1960's and only used in the American Basketball Association. Twenty-one of Kobe's 81 points came courtesy of the three-point line (he went 7-13 from behind the stripe), which means without the arc he would have scored 74. Also, English accomplished his feat in a two-half, forty minute college game; which makes English's 77 that much more significant.

English was more than just a one-night fling. The Salem, Virginia native was a two-time All American and is fourth on WSSU's all-time scoring list with 2,117 points, in addition to being one of the top rebounders in the history of the program. He was part of the legendary 1967 Division II Championship team, lead by NBA Hall-of-Famer Earl Monroe. The NBA's Detroit Pistons drafted him, and after being cut, he returned to Winston-Salem where he served as a volunteer coach in addition to his job with the city of Winston-Salem.

English was a great player who was so dedicated to Coach Gaines and WSSU that he volunteered his time as a basketball coach, without pay, for more than 20 years. "I just wanted to keep learning from Coach Gaines. And I thought I'd be helping the university out as well," said English.

English, 59, is now battling kidney failure and is retired from his job with the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. He was recently elected to the CIAA Hall of Fame, which is shocking considering he finished his collegiate career more than 35 years ago but is still one of the top 20 scorers in CIAA history.

Kobe's scoring barrage against the Raptors was an electrifying performance that deserves all the attention it's getting. It's just too bad that a performance such as English's hasn't received anywhere near the amount of attention it deserves.