Norm Ellenberger
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Norm Ellenberger was the head coach of the University of New Mexico (UNM) Lobo basketball team from 1972 to 1979, when he was forced to resign due to a recruiting scandal known as Lobo-gate.
Ellenberger graduated in 1955 from Butler University, where he played for coaching legend Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle. After a brief stint playing baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, he coached basketball and other sports in the New Haven, Indiana public school district from 1957-1964.
He began coaching at Monmouth College in 1964, leading all three major team sports (football, basketball and baseball) at one point. His basketball teams compiled a record of 30-36, including a 14-8 campaign in 1965-1966.
On April 13, 1967, Ellenberger took an assistant basketball position at UNM under Coach Bob King. He became head coach at UNM when King left for Indiana State University in 1972.
The Lobo program thrived in the 1970s, and Ellenberger became a local celebrity, man-about-town, and restaurateur in Albuquerque, earning the nickname Stormin' Norman for his flashy attire, fiery coaching style, and flamboyant personality.
Under Ellenberger, the Lobos won Western Athletic Conference (WAC) basketball championship in 1974 and 1978 and compiled an overall record of 134-62 (.684). His teams were frequently ranked among the Top 25 in the nation. Ellenberger coached Michael Cooper for two seasons at UNM before "Coop" went on to become one of the greatest defensive players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history.
Ellenberger managed to remain popular in Albuquerque even after the Lobo-gate recruiting scandal decimated the Lobo basketball program, forced him to resign as head coach, and left him with criminal liability. An NCAA investigation into Lobo recruiting practices found 57 rule violations, and Ellenberger himself was convicted on 21 counts of fraud two years later. His restaurant ventures continued to do well, but he was never able to return formally to a major head coaching position.
His ability as a coach, and especially as a teacher of defense, was never in dispute. Hall of Famer Don Haskins, head coach, and former WAC rival, at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP), hired Ellenberger as an assistant, giving him a chance to return to coaching. Ellenberger acted as interim head coach at UTEP for one season while Haskins was side-lined due to health problems. He later spent over a decade as assistant coach for Hall of Famer Bobby Knight at Indiana University. His last major coaching job was as assistant to Tim Floyd with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA.
While in Chicago, Ellenberger and his wife, Cyndi, became enamored with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. After his wife took a job coaching girls basketball at Conserve School in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin, Ellenberger accepted the position as head coach of the girls team at Lakeland Union High School in nearby Minocqua. He finished his career there, retiring at the end of the 2004-2005 school year. He currently is a basketball coach at Conserve School.
In the 2007 release of the Nimrod Nation 8-episode series on the Sundance Channel, Ellenberger appears as an assistant coach for the Watersmeet Nimrods in the 7th episode.
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