Cliff Ellis

Cliff Ellis
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Coastal Carolina
Record 80–48
Biographical details
Born December 5, 1945 (1945-12-05) (age 66)
Place of birth Marianna, Florida
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1968–1969
1969–1971
1971–1972
1972–1975
1975–1984
1984–1994
1994–2004
2007–present		 Ruckle JHS (assistant)
Niceville HS
Vanguard HS
Cumberland
South Alabama
Clemson
Auburn
Coastal Carolina
Head coaching record
Overall 614–385 (.615)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
SEC Regular Season Championship (1999)Championship
Sun Belt Regular Season Championship (1979, 1980)Championship
Big South Regular Season Championship (2010, 2011)
Awards
SEC Coach of the Year (1995, 1999)
ACC Coach of the Year (1987, 1990)
Big South Coach of the Year (2010)

Cliff Ellis (born December 5, 1945) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach at Coastal Carolina University.[1] Going into the 2011–2012 season, Coach Ellis's 614 victories rank him 50th 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 regular-season first-place finish. 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 was born in Marianna, Florida. He is a musician, an author and a gourmet cook. He has 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

Coaching career

High school

College

Cumberland

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

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]

Clemson

On April 3, 1984 the former South Alabama coach was named the head basketball coach at Clemson University. In 10 years at Clemson, Ellis led the Tigers to postseason play eight times, including three NCAA Tournaments. His best team was the 1989-90 unit, which tallied the only Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title in school history and made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen--the second-deepest NCAA Tournament run in school history. He was a two-time ACC Coach of the Year (1987 and 1990).[4] He is currently the winningest coach in Clemson history.

Auburn

Ellis led the Tigers to the 1999 SEC Championship with a 29–4 record, the most wins ever recorded by a Division I team in the state of Alabama. The Tigers reached the Sweet 16 in 1998–99 and in 2002–03 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 2002–03 season where Auburn went 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 1948–49.[4]

At the end of the 2003–04 season, Ellis resigned from his position at Auburn. He remained in the Auburn community, where his wife Carolyn ran for a state legislature seat in 2006.

Coastal Carolina University

On Monday, July 2, 2007, Ellis was named Coastal Carolina's head basketball coach.

In the 2009–10 season, he led the Chanticleers to the school's first conference championship since 1990–91. Coastal set new school records for victories in conference play (15) and the regular season (26) in the process.

In the 2010–2011 season, he led the Chanticleers to the school's second conference championship since 1900–91. Coastal Carolina (28–6) made its second straight trip to the NIT after earning an automatic bid by winning the Big South regular season title with a 16–2 mark inside the conference. The Chanticleers opened league play with 15 straight victories and went on to set an all-time Big South record for conference wins in a season.

It’s the second straight season that Coastal Carolina has captured the Big South regular season title and the first time since the 1990 and 1991 seasons that the Chanticleers have won consecutive league titles.

The Chanticleers were also a perfect 9–0 on the road in conference this season and became just the second team in league history to accomplish that feat. In addition, the Chants are also the first team in conference history to win five Big South road games by at least 20 points. Coastal won by 22 at VMI (Jan. 6), 21 at UNC Asheville (Jan. 20), 24 at High Point (Jan. 27), 23 at Radford (Jan. 29) and 20 at Presbyterian (Feb. 10).

Coastal Carolina is also the first team in Big South history to win at least 25 games in back-to-back seasons and also now owns the conference record for the most wins in consecutive seasons with 56.

During the 2010–2011 season, Coastal Carolina owned the nation's longest win streak with 22 wins.

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
South Alabama (Sun Belt Conference) (1975–1984)
1975–76 South Alabama 18–9 n/a n/a
1976–77 South Alabama 17–10 3–3 3rd
1977–78 South Alabama 18–10 3–7 4th
1978–79 South Alabama 20–7 10–0 1st NCAA 1st round
1979–80 South Alabama 23–6 12–2 1st NCAA 1st round
1980–81 South Alabama 25–6 9–3 1st NIT Quarterfinals
1981–82 South Alabama 12–16 2–8 6th
1982–83 South Alabama 16–12 6–8 5th
1983–84 South Alabama 22–8 9–5 2nd NIT 2nd round
South Alabama: 171–84 54–36
Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1984–1994)
1984–85 Clemson 16–13 5–9 T–6th NIT 1st round
1985–86 Clemson 19–15 3–11 7th NIT Quarterfinals
1986–87 Clemson 25–6 10–4 2nd NCAA 1st round
1987–88 Clemson 14–15 4–10 7th NIT 1st round
1988–89 Clemson 19–11 7–7 6th NCAA 2nd round
1989–90 Clemson 25–9 10–4 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1990–91 Clemson 11–17 2–12 7th
1991–92 Clemson 14–14 4–12 9th
1992–93 Clemson 17–13 5–11 7th NIT 2nd round
1993–94 Clemson 18–16 6–10 T–7th NIT Quarterfinals
1994–95 Clemson 15–13 5–11 T–6th NIT 1st round
Clemson: 193–142 61–87
Auburn (SEC West) (1994–2004)
1994–95 Auburn 16–13 7–9 4th NIT 1st round
1995–96 Auburn 19–13 6–10 T–4th NIT 1st round
1996–97 Auburn 16–15 6–10 T–3rd
1997–98 Auburn 16–14 7–9 3rd NIT 2nd round
1998–99 Auburn 29–4 14–2 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1999–00 Auburn 24–10 9–7 2nd NCAA 2nd round
2000–01 Auburn 18–14 7–9 T–4th NIT 2nd round
2001–02 Auburn 12–15 4–12 6th
2002–03 Auburn 22–12 8–8 T–2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2003–04 Auburn 14–14 5–11 T–4th
Auburn: 186–125 73–87
Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference) (2007–present)
2007–08 Coastal Carolina 13–15 6–8 T–5th
2008–09 Coastal Carolina 11–20 5–13 7th
2009–10 Coastal Carolina 28–7 15–3 1st NIT 1st round
2010–11 Coastal Carolina 28–6 16–2 1st NIT 1st round
2011-12 Coastal Carolina – –
Coastal Carolina: 80–48 42–26
Total: 630–399

      National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion
      Conference regular season & conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Head Coach Cliff Ellis". AuburnTigers.us. http://google.com/search?q=cache:Po8_4fHK8IMJ:www.auburntigers.us/emplibrary/mbbmg03_71-90a.pdf+clifford+ellis+1945+chipola&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us. Retrieved 2007-03-16. 
  2. ^ "Division I Coaching Records". NCAA.org. 2010-03-03. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/Coaching.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  3. ^ "Former Auburn coach to speak to Chipola boosters". Chipola.edu. 2005-09-26. http://www.chipola.edu/public_relations/Chipola%20This%20Week/Sept%2026%202005.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-16. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Auburn Head Coach Cliff Ellis To Be Inducted Into Mobile Sports Hall Of Fame". Test.com. 2003-04-22. http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/042203aaa.html. Retrieved 2007-03-16. 
Current men's basketball head coaches of the Big South Conference