Feliksas Kriaučiūnas (Americanized his name as Phil Krause; August 18, 1911 – October 28, 1977)[1] was a Lithuanian American basketball player and coach. He won two gold medals with Lithuania national basketball team and silver medal with Lithuania women's national basketball team.
 Feliksas Kriaučiūnas in 1938 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | August 18, 1911 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | October 28, 1977 (aged 66) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Lithuanian / American | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 11.4 in (1.81 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 178 lb (81 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Biography
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Feliksas studied and played for University of Notre Dame team, along with his brother Moose Krause.[2] Later he moved to DePaul University and played for their university team.[2] In 1935, along with other Lithuanian Americans, he started teaching Lithuanians how to play basketball.[2] He was the Lithuania men's national basketball team player-coach and team captain during EuroBasket 1937 and EuroBasket 1939.[3][2] As soon as World War II begun in 1939, Kriaučiūnas and his brother traveled back to the United States.[4][2] Kriaučiūnas played a total of 19 games, scoring 65 points.[2] He also was the head coach of the Lithuania women's national basketball team during the first ever women's EuroBasket in 1938 where Lithuania won silver medals.[2] He also firmly contributed in developing nowadays basketball in Lithuania.[2]
State awards
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editReferences
edit- Footnotes
- ↑ United States Social Security Death Index, FamilySearch.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Stonkus, Stanislovas. "Feliksas Kriaučiūnas". Lietuvos sporto enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ↑ The Motherland, the Godfather, and the Birth of a Basketball Dynasty: American Efforts to Promote Basketball in Lithuania, Eastern Illinois University, p. 14. (in English)
- ↑ Mr. Notre Dame: The Life and Legend of Edward Moose Krause
- Bibliography
- Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989 – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989
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