.jpg) Ellis in 2018 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 5, 1945 Marianna, Florida, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Florida State Middle Tennessee State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1968–1969 | Ruckel JHS (assistant) |
| 1969–1971 | Niceville HS |
| 1971–1972 | Vanguard HS |
| 1972–1975 | Cumberland |
| 1975–1984 | South Alabama |
| 1984–1994 | Clemson |
| 1994–2004 | Auburn |
| 2007–2023 | Coastal Carolina |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1972–1975 | Cumberland |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 831–563 (.596) 78–12 (.867) (NAIA) |
| Tournaments | 8–10 (NCAA Division I) 10–13 (NIT) 3–2 (CIT) 8–4 (CBI) 3–1 (TBC) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Awards | |
| |
Cliff Ellis[1] (born December 5, 1945) is an American former college basketball coach, who finished his career as the head coach at Coastal Carolina University.[2] Ellis finished his career as the ninth winningest coach in NCAA Division I history.[3]
Ellis is a member of four Halls of Fame after entering the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2021 and Clemson's in 2013. He was already part of the Mobile Sports and Cumberland University Halls of Fame.
Ellis has compiled a Division I record of 828–559 (.596) and an overall record of 906–571 (.613). He ranks third in NCAA Division I wins among active coaches. He is also just one of four coaches in NCAA Division I history to make multiple NCAA Tournament appearances with four separate schools and has been named conference Coach of the Year six times in his career. He is the only coach in NCAA Division I history to win at least 170 games at four different institutions.
As of the end of the 2022–23 season, he is the all-time leader in NCAA Division I wins for basketball coaches who have coached in the state of South Carolina. He has 471 wins with Clemson (177) and Coastal Carolina (294). Former South Carolina head coach, Frank McGuire, is a distant second with 283 wins.
With a victory over UNC Asheville on February 3, 2015, Ellis became the only coach in NCAA Division I history to tally 150-plus wins at four institutions. 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 at both Auburn and Coastal Carolina.[4]
- ^ "Tally-Ho". Florida State University. 1968.
- ^ "Cliff Ellis". Auburn University. Archived from the original on July 5, 2004.
- ^ "NCAA Statistics".
- ^ "Former Auburn coach to speak to Chipola boosters" (PDF). Chipola.edu. September 26, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 16, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2007.