Cliff Ellis

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Cliff Ellis

Title Head coach
College Coastal Carolina
Sport Basketball
Team record 13-15
Born December 5, 1945 (1945-12-05) (age 62)
Place of birth Flag of the United States Marianna, Florida
Career highlights
Overall 547-352 (.608)
Championships
SEC Regular Season Championship (1999)
ACC Regular Season Championship (1990)
Sun Belt Regular Season Championship (1979, 1980)
Awards
SEC Coach of the Year (1995, 1999)
ACC Coach of the Year (1987, 1990)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1968–1969
1969–1971
1971–1972
1972–1975
1975–1984
1984–1994
1994–2004
2007–present
Ruckle JHS (asst.)
Niceville HS
Vanguard HS
Cumberland
South Alabama
Clemson
Auburn
Coastal Carolina

Cliff Ellis (born December 5, 1945 in Marianna, Florida) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach at Coastal Carolina University.[1] His 547 victories rank him 29th on the list of all-time career coaching victories in Division 1 basketball.[2] He was national coach of the year in 1999 at Auburn, when his Tigers won 29 games and captured the school’s first SEC championship in 40 years. In 1990 he coached Clemson to its only ACC title in history and his South Alabama teams won Sun Belt Conference regular-season championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981. At both Clemson and South Alabama he holds school records for coaching victories and he is the second-winningest coach in Auburn history.[3]

Ellis is a musician, an author and a gourmet cook. He's even been an ostrich farmer. He and his music group, the Villagers, were one of the Southeast's hottest acts in the mid-1960s. Before he'd ever coached a college game, he had published a book on the 1-3-1 zone press.[1]

Contents

[edit] Coaching career

Cliff Ellis Record by Season
Season School Record Percentage Conference Postseason
1973-1973 Cumberland 20-5 .800 2nd n/a
1973-1974 Cumberland 34-2 .944 Champions n/a
1974-1975 Cumberland 24-5 .828 Champions n/a
1975-1976 South Alabama 18-9 .667 n/a -
1976-1977 South Alabama 17-10 .630 3-3 (3rd) -
1977-1978 South Alabama 18-10 .630 3-7 (4th) -
1978-1979 South Alabama 20-7 .740 10-0 (Champions) NCAA Midwest (first round)
1979-1980 South Alabama 23-6 .793 12-2 (Champions) NCAA Midwest (first round)
1980-1981 South Alabama 25-6 .806 9-3 (Champions) NIT (quarterfinals)
1981-1982 South Alabama 12-16 .429 2-8 (6th) -
1982-1983 South Alabama 16-12 .571 6-8 (5th) -
1983-1984 South Alabama 22-8 .733 9-5 (2nd) NIT (second round)
1984-1985 Clemson 16-13 .552 5-9 (t-6th) NIT (second round)
1984-1985 Clemson 16-13 .552 5-9 (t-6th) NIT (first round)
1985-1986 Clemson 19-15 .559 3-11 (7th) NIT (quarterfinals)
1986-1987 Clemson 25-6 .806 10-4 (2nd) NCAA Southeast (first round)
1987-1988 Clemson 14-15 .483 4-10 (7th) NIT (first round)
1988-1989 Clemson 19-11 .633 7-7 (6th) NCAA West (second round)
1989-1990 Clemson 24-8 .750 10-4 (Champions) NCAA East (Sweet 16)
1990-1991 Clemson 11-17 .392 2-12 (7th) -
1991-1992 Clemson 14-14 .500 4-12 (9th) -
1992-1993 Clemson 17-13 .567 5-11 (7th) NIT (second round)
1993-1994 Clemson 18-16 .592 6-10 (t-7th) NIT (quarterfinals)
1994-1995 Auburn 16-13 .552 7-9 (4th-Western) NIT (first round)
1995-1996 Auburn 19-13 .452 6-10 (t-4th-Western) NIT (first round)
1996-1997 Auburn 16-15 .516 6-10 (t-3rd-Western) -
1997-1998 Auburn 16-14 .533 7-9 (3rd-Western) NIT (second round)
1998-1999 Auburn 29-4 .879 14-2 (Champions) NCAA South (Sweet 16)
1999-2000 Auburn 24-10 .706 9-7 (2nd-Western) NCAA Midwest (second round)
2000-2001 Auburn 18-14 .563 7-9 (t-4th-Western) NIT (second round)
2001-2002 Auburn 12-16 .429 4-12 (6th-Western) -
2002-2003 Auburn 22-12 .647 8-8 (t-2nd-Western) NCAA East (Sweet 16)
2003-2004 Auburn 14-14 .500 5-11 (t-4th-Western) -
2007-2008 Coastal Carolina 13-15 .464 6-8 (t-5th)

[edit] High School

[edit] College

[edit] Cumberland

Ellis was head coach and Athletic Director at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee from 1972 to 1975.[1]

[edit] South Alabama

Ellis was head coach at the University of South Alabama from 1975 to 1984.[1] He is the all-time winningest coach in South Alabama history with a 171-84 during nine seasons.[4] When Ellis became head coach, the administrators at South Alabama were thinking of dropping to Division II. Four years later, he had the Jaguars in the NCAA Tournament and six seasons later, they were ranked in the nation's top 10.[4]

Ellis, also was the athletic director during part of his tenure, led the Jaguars to three Sun Belt titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and two NITs.[4]

[edit] Clemson

On April 3, 1984 the former South Alabama coach was named the head basketball coach at Clemson University. Ellis replaced Bill Foster, who left for the University of Miami.[5] Ellis led Clemson to its one and only ACC Championship in history in 1990 and was a two-time ACC Coach of the Year (1987 and 1990).[4]

[edit] Auburn

Ellis led the Tigers to the 1999 SEC Championship with a 29-4 record, a state of Alabama record for most wins. The Tigers reached the Sweet 16 in 1998-99 and in 2001-02 under Ellis. Ellis coached Auburn to the top three single season victory marks in school history, with the 1998-99 season, the 1999-2000 season when Auburn went 24-10, and the 2001-02 season where Auburn wend 22-12. [4]

Ellis claimed his 500th career Division I coaching victory in a 100-71 win over Georgia State November 26, 2002, to become only the 34th coach to reach the milestone since the NCAA started Division I play in 1948-1949.[4]

At the end of the 2003-04 season, Auburn relieved Ellis of coaching duties. He remained in the Auburn community, where his wife Carolyn ran for a state legislature seat in 2006.

[edit] Coastal Carolina University

On Monday, July 2nd 2007, Ellis was named Coastal Carolina's head basketball coach. Ellis replaced Buzz Peterson, who left the program to become director of player personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats. [6]

[edit] Awards

  • 1987 ACC Coach of the Year
  • 1987 Kodak (NABC) District III Coach of the Year
  • 1990 ACC Coach of the Year
  • 1990 Kodak (NABC) District III Coach of the Year
  • 1990 UPI ACC Coach of the Year
  • 1990 US Basketball Writers District III Coach of the Year
  • 1995 SEC Coach of the Year
  • 1999 National Coach of the Year
  • 1999 SEC Coach of the Year
  • 2000 National Coach of the Year Finalist
  • 2003 Inductee Mobile Sports Hall of Fame

[edit] References