Cliff Ellis

Early life and education

Ellis was born in Marianna, Florida. He graduated from Florida State University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and has a master's degree (1972) in the same subject from Middle Tennessee State University.

High school

While at Coastal Carolina, Ellis has amassed a pair of Big South regular season championships and two conference tournament tiles, making him one of only two coaches in NCAA history to win conference titles at four different institutions. Furthermore, Ellis is also one of two coaches to win championships in both the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference.

Ellis is a member of three Halls of Fame after entering Clemson's in 2013. He was already part of the Mobile Sports and Cumberland College Halls of Fame.

Ellis has compiled a Division I record of 733-466 (.611) and 811-478 (.630) overall and 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.

He enters the 2017-18 season as the all-time leader in NCAA Division I wins for basketball coaches who have coached in the state of South Carolina. He has 378 wins with Clemson (179) and Coastal Carolina (199). Former South Carolina coach, Frank McGuire, is a distant second with 283 wins.

Cumberland

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

South Alabama

Ellis was head coach at the University of South Alabama from 1975 to 1984. He is the all-time winningest coach in South Alabama history with a 171–84 during nine seasons. 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.

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.

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). 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.

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.

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

Coastal Carolina

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

In the 2009–2010 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. The Chanticleers would eventually hold the nation's longest win streak at 22 straight games.

The 2010-2011 season marked 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 in 2010-2011 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 also became the first team in Big South history to win at least 25 games in back-to-back seasons and now owns the conference record for the most wins in consecutive seasons with 56 (2009-2010 through 2010-2011).

In 2011-2012, Ellis led the Chants to their first appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Coastal finished the season with a 19-12 record, while going 12-6 in Big South Conference play. Ellis led the Chants to victories over LSU and Clemson during the season, marking the first time in school history that Coastal Carolina had recorded two wins in the same season over "Power Five" schools. The win over LSU was the second-straight victory for the Chanticleers over the Tigers in as many seasons.

Ellis' 2012-2013 campaign featured a season opening win over perennial mid-major power Akron when the Chants opened their new home, The HTC Center. Coastal also picked up a 69-46 home win over Clemson in late December, giving Ellis back-to-back victories over the Tigers. Ellis led Coastal to a 14-15 overall record in 2012-2013 but the Chants were 12-4 at home with a near perfect 7-1 conference home ledger.

Ellis led the Chants to a 19-12 regular season finish during the 2013-2014 season, including an 11-5 conference record earning the Chants' first Big South Conference South Division Championship. Coastal went on to win three-straight games in the VisitiMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championship to earn its third Big South Conference Tournament Championship, first since 1991. Coastal nearly upset top-seed Virginia at the NCAA Tournament. The Chants led by as many as 10 points in the first half but a late surge by the Cavaliers gave UVA the victory.

In 2014-2015, Ellis guided the Chanticleers to a 21-9 regular season record, including a 12-6 mark in Big South play to earn the No. 3 seed in the VisitMyrlteBeach.com Big South Basketball Championship. In the league tournament the Chants rallied for wins over UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb before running away from Winthrop in the title game to secure a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament—a program first. Coastal was seeded 16th in the West Region and faced No. 1-seeded Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament. The Chants took a pair of early leads over the Badgers, but the eventual national runner-up pulled away for an 86-72 victory.

The 2015-16 season featured a 21-12 overall record (12-6 Big South) as Ellis guided the Chanticleers to a semifinal appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Along the way the Chanticleers earned the program’s first, second and third postseason victories with wins over Mercer, New Hampshire and Grand Canyon, respectively.

The 2016-2017 season featured a 20-19 overall record (10-8 Sun Belt) as Ellis guided the Chanticleers to a championship series appearance in the College Basketball Invitational Postseason Tournament. In the Chanticleers first season in the Sun Belt Conference they finished with 10 conference wins, advance to the Quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament with a win over South Alabama before eventually falling to Texas Arlington in the Quarterfinal round. After advancing to the Postseason College Basketball Invitational, the Chanticleers picked up wins against Hampton, Loyola (MD) and Illionois-Chicago before moving on to the Championship series against Wyoming. The Chanticleers won game one of the series before falling in games two and three to finish Runners Up in the CBI Tournament.

Personal life

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. He has published three books - "Zone Press Variations for Winning Basketball," "The Complete Book of Fast Break Basketball" and "Cliff Ellis: The Winning Edge," released in the summer of 2000.

Head coaching record

* 2 NCAA Tournament wins and 1 loss were vacated

** Includes vacated games