Men's College Basketball News

Coastal Carolina tabs Ellis as new basketball coach

Jul 2, 2007, 17:35 GMT

Conway, SC - Coastal Carolina University named Cliff Ellis its new head men's basketball coach on Monday. Ellis inked a five-year deal and will be the sixth coach in Coastal history.

The 61-year-old Ellis has been a successful coach throughout his career, recording a 534-337 record as a Division I head coach and a 612-349 mark overall. He is currently 47th in all-time Division I wins and will enter next season as the 12th winningest active Division I coach.

Ellis spent 10 years (1994-2004) as the head coach at Auburn, posting a 186-125 record. In 1999 he led the Tigers to a school record 29-4 mark, including 14-2 in the SEC to win the league title, and advanced the team to the NCAA Championship as a No. 1 seed, eventually advancing to the Sweet 16.

Ellis also coached at Clemson from 1984-1994, putting together a 177-128 record. He led the Tigers to the 1990 Atlantic Coast Conference title, the only in the school's history, with a 24-8 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

Most recently, Ellis has worked as a television broadcast analyst.

The veteran coach succeeds Buzz Peterson at Coastal Carolina, who left the school to take the director of player personnel position with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.

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