Ellis surpasses 900 career wins
Dec. 22—Cliff Ellis, who got his college coaching start in Lebanon at then-Cumberland Junior College in the 1970s, recently surpassed 900 career collegiate victories when his Coastal Carolina team routed Regent 102-39.
The Chanticleers then got No. 901 with an 87-86 squeaker at South Dakota earlier this month.
Ellis joined Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and West Virginia's Bob Huggins as active coaches with 900 career wins.
The first 78 wins (out of 90 games) came in Lebanon at then-Cumberland Junior College in 1972-75 as the then-Bulldogs won two league championships. The floor at the Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena, which opened in 1992, is named for him. His teams played next door in the Depression-era Dawghouse which has since been remodeled into Labry Hall.
He entered Division I at South Alabama in 1975 and has made stops at Clemson and Auburn. He is in his 16th season at Coastal Carolina, located in Conway, S.C.
Counting his Cumberland wins, Ellis, who turned 77 earlier this month, is seventh in career wins, one behind Bobby Knight's 902 and two behind Roy Williams. Subtract the juco wins and the Florida native, in his 45th DI season (48th including Cumberland) is 10th. He sat out two seasons between his Auburn and Coastal tenures.
An interesting stat: When Ellis came to Cumberland in the fall of 1972, Adolph Rupp had just retired as Kentucky's coach after 42 years with 876 wins, which was then the alltime high. The Baron is now eighth on the DI list. Most NCAA DI lists include wins in lower level divisions and NAIA, but not junior college.
