George Clinton Colliflower (May 2, 1886 – January 20, 1980) was an American basketball player and coach. He was head basketball coach at George Washington University from 1915 to 1917. Colliflower and his brother James attended Georgetown University. Colliflower played basketball as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and guard and baseball as a pitcher while at Georgetown. In basketball, Colliflower was described as a "husky" forward who was known for his "consistent performances ... both in goal tossing and making it almost impossible for his opponent to score." Colliflower's Georgetown career spanned from 1907 to 1912, extending from his undergraduate days to his enrollment in graduate school. Following his college career, Colliflower played and coached for the Aloysius Club team, then coached at Gonzaga College High School while working with other Washington, D.C. basketball coaches and administrators to organize the game in the city. Colliflower was named head coach at

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

in 1915, succeeding

Nathan Dougherty Nathan Washington "Big'n" Dougherty (March 23, 1886 – May 18, 1977) was a Hall of Fame college football player for the Tennessee Volunteers football team. He later became the Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Tenne ...

, serving in this role for two seasons. In the 1915–16 season, the Colonials went 7–8, and in 1916–17 they were 2–10.

Personal life

George's older brother James later became head coach at Navy and Georgetown, and they at times faced each other on the sidelines. A third Colliflower brother, Joseph, was accidentally shot and killed in 1909 by a nine-year-old child in an accident involving a keepsake firearm. George Colliflower witnessed the accident and held his dying brother until medical help could arrive. Colliflower was married on January 1, 1917, to Louise M. Hance. They had four children: Vera (born c. 1918), George, Jr. (born c. 1919), Joseph (born c. 1922), and Helen (born c. 1924). Colliflower died in January 1980 at age 83. His last residence was in

Anne Arundel, Maryland Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...

.Death record for George Colliflower, born May 2, 1886. Social Security number: 578-07-6921, issued in the District of Columbia. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 atabase on-line

References

External links

Coaching record at sports-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colliflower, George 1886 births 1980 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Washington, D.C. College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Forwards (basketball) Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players George Washington Revolutionaries men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States