TU Basketball: Coaching Staff Promotes Seals And Hires English

Tulsa Basketball has promoted former TU All-American Shea Seals to assistant basketball coach and added former Missouri standout Kim English as Director of Player Development, head coach Frank Haith announced Monday.

Seals has served as Director of Player Development/Team Manager for the last three seasons. The Tulsa native was an All-America selection while playing at TU from 1993-97.

English played at Missouri from 2008-12, including his senior season for Haith. He has spent the last three years playing professional basketball – one with the Detroit Pistons, and two overseas.

“Shea was such a valuable part of our program last season and he is the perfect addition to our on-court coaching staff,” Haith said. “Needless to say, Shea is a Tulsa Basketball legend and is someone that has worked tremendously hard to get where he is today. He is a great example of what hard work and a Tulsa education can help you accomplish and I am so proud that his first assistant coaching job is here at his alma mater. I know everyone around our program and our community will join me in congratulating Shea and Rosa, as well as their children Jeval, Shea Ari, Shemar and Viola.”

Seals is Tulsa's all-time leading scorer with 2,288 points, and also completed his career among the school's all-time leaders for rebounds with 777, assists with 388 and steals with 222.

During his TU career, Seals was on Tulsa teams that compiled an overall 93-34 record, made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the "Sweet Sixteen", won two Missouri Valley Conference regular season championships and one MVC Tournament title.

Seals earned first-team all-conference honors in his final three seasons, twice in the MVC and as a senior in the Western Athletic Conference. He went on to receive third-team Associated Press All-America merits as a senior and had his No. 21 jersey retired in his final home game of the 1996-97 campaign.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for my family and me. I appreciate Coach Haith having the faith in me to allow me to be an assistant coach at my alma mater,” Seals said. “I'm very passionate about this program, very passionate about The University of Tulsa, and I'll do what I can to continue our success. I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a student-athlete at TU, and now I'll be able to use my experience to go out and recruit players. Hopefully that will help to attract great players and fulfill the character, academic standard and tradition we hold at The University of Tulsa.”

Before returning to Tulsa in 2012, Seals spent the previous seven years coaching high school basketball in the city of Tulsa, compiling an overall 130-45 record. He was the head basketball coach for five seasons at Booker T. Washington High School, and before that spent three seasons at his alma mater McLain High School.

In his tenure at BTW, Seals' teams posted a 102-22 record, won state championships in 2010 and 2011, finished as the state runner-up in 2008 and a state semifinalist in 2009. In 2011, the Hornets compiled a 21-0 record en route to their second consecutive state championship, while earning a Rivals.com final high school national ranking of No. 22.

At McLain, Seals spent the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach and took over as head coach a year later. Seals' proceeded to lead McLain High School to a two-year mark of 28-23 and a state quarterfinals appearance in 2006. As a prep senior at McLain in 1993, Seals averaged 24.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and was named the 1993 Oklahoma High School Player of the Year as a prep senior at McLain High School.

Before entering the coaching profession, Seals spent seven years in professional basketball. He began his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1997-98 before suffering an ACL injury in the summer after his rookie season. He played six years in Europe and Asia and one season in the NBDL.

English was drafted with the 44th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He played in 41 games during the 2012-13 season, and spent most of the last two years playing basketball overseas.

“I am so excited to be welcoming Kim English to our staff,” Haith said. “Kim was a tremendous player for me at Missouri and was someone Michael Schwarz and I heavily recruited while we were at Miami. Kim made himself into an NBA Draft pick his senior season because of his relentless work ethic and mind for our game and that's why he will be so successful in the coaching profession. Kim has been preparing himself to become a coach over the past several years, including our time together at Missouri, on through his time with the Detroit Pistons. He was a highly-coveted young coach this spring and I cannot wait for our team, our administration and our community to get to know Kim and his future wife, Jessica.”

English averaged 11.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals during his four-year career at Missouri. He totaled 1,570 points, ranking 13th in program history. He earned third-team All-Big 12 honors in 2010 and 2012, and was named to the USA Today All-Improved Team and the USBWA All-District Team in 2010.

In 2012, English averaged 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals, and ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 78 3-point field goals, while leading Missouri to a 30-5 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament in Haith's first season. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Tournament, averaging 23.0 points and shooting 78 percent during the Tigers' championship run. He scored 10.0 points with 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals as a junior in 2011. He led the Tigers in scoring as a sophomore in 2009-10 with a 14.0 average, while adding 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest.

After his time with the Pistons, English played basketball in Europe, including stints with Montepaschi Siena in Italy, and Chorale Roanne Basket, Nancy Basket and Cholet Basket in France, and most recently Guaros De Lara BBC in Venezuela. He also spent time with the Orlando Magic summer league squad in 2014, and was invited to the Chicago Bulls training camp in 2014.