At 32 years of age, Carl English is the oldest member of Canada’s senior men’s basketball team.
Just don’t tell him that.
English will likely be suiting up for Canada for an eighth year at the FIBA Americas tournament in Venezuela on Aug. 30 and the youthful exuberance he’s been feeling throughout training camp has taken a few years off him.
“All of these guys are so young, they make me feel young,” English said after a Team Canada practice on Thursday. “And then 32’s not really that old. I mean, how old’s Steve (Nash), he’s still one of the best players isn’t he?
“There’s so much energy and there’s that great determination and that’s what I feel we need to be successful and I feel that’s what you should always have when you play for your country.”
On the senior team since 2005, English feels his experience is invaluable for all the fresh faces in camp.
“I’m wise. Let’s leave it at that,” he said. “I’m wise, I’ve been around the block a time or two and had success at the international level with Canada, so there’s a lot that I can bring to the table and a lot that I can teach these guys.”
The former University of Hawaii standout has been hampered by a hamstring injury keeping him out of practice fully so, in the meantime, he’s dedicated a lot of his time this training camp being a mentor to the youngsters.
“He’s definitely a veteran,” San Antonio Spurs point guard Cory Joseph said. “He hasn’t been out there playing with us but he’s been vocal, he’s been teaching people, showing them the international game and he’s been here forever so he kind of knows the ins-and-outs, so he’s just been teaching people that.”
Joseph isn’t joking when it comes to English’s international career as he’s seen everything the international game has to offer – everything except Olympic competition that is.
But now with a Canadian “golden generation” of basketball dawning upon us – with more Canadian NBA talent than ever before and more interest from fans and the media than ever – English feels he will not only make his Olympic dream a reality in 2016, but will also be a key figure from a leadership perspective.
“The atmosphere that we’re going to face I’ve been there a lot of times. So I can bring that to the guys.”
English’s qualities as a leader don’t only stem from his national team experience, it also comes from the respect he gets from the unorthodox path he took to reach basketball success.
“A lot of these guys know (where I came from) and that’s why they respect me and appreciate and value my opinion. That’s my story where I came from, but a lot of them have their own stories and where they came from so we’re still getting to know each other, and over the course of time and over the course of the summer we’ll really figure out and that’s how you build camaraderie and that’s how you build a team.”
English was born and raised in St. John’s, N.L., where he cut his teeth at Fatima Academy in St. Bride’s. While there, he amazingly averaged 50 points per game one season but never received any recognition from U.S. colleges until he moved to the Greater Toronto Area and attended St. Thomas Aquinas.
Unfortunately, the school went on an extracurricular strike when he arrived and it wasn’t until his senior year (1999), after playing with a Canadian high school all-star team, that he got noticed and was offered a scholarship to Hawaii, where he led the Rainbow Warriors to two NCAA tournament appearances.
Following his collegiate career, English went undrafted and bounced around the NBA’s D-League before departing for Europe, where he’s managed to a forge a successful career with multiple clubs in many different countries. His latest stop was in Spain where he led the nation’s top league in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game for Asefa Estudiantes.
English’s tale of perseverance has shaped him both as a player and as a person. With how sophisticated talent identification has become, he hopes that Canada’s basketball future will still appreciate that these prospects are still just playing basketball.
“They’re IDing guys at nine and 10 years old, but when I was nine and 10 I was on the road just playing ball for the love of it and that helped me develop that fight and that dream.
“As long as they appreciate what they have, they’ll be okay. Hopefully, they don’t take it for granted because it can be taken away so fast.”
English isn’t bitter about the path he had to take compared to what he’s seeing now, however, as he knows it’s helping out kids who were just like him.
“I remember when I got (to Toronto) the teachers were on strike and I’m cutting VCR tapes. I sent out 300 tapes to schools just to (say) ‘Alright, I’m here, I’m good, come find me!’
“You know, so they don’t have to do that no more. So hopefully now they just have to work on their game. There’s so many people following these kids, it’s so easy. People aren’t getting lost no more.”
For eight years English has worn the red-and-white proudly, going through some very tough times during arguably the program’s lowest points. However, just like he’s done with his professional career, he’s tenaciously fought through it without complaint.
A trait that is quintessentially Canadian.
