Ready for a new challenge

By Gene Sapakoff

The Post and Courier

Friday, February 1, 2008

Al Behrman/AP

Coastal Carolina basketball coach Cliff Ellis.

At 61, former Clemson coach Ellis rebuilding again at Coastal Carolina

CONWAY — Look what you started, Bobby Cremins: An obvious trend in which former major conference basketball head coaches emerge from retirement and broadcasting to beat the bushes for power forwards and study UNC Wilmington video before the warm South Carolina sun shines on breakfast.

Cliff Ellis doesn't need this. Not the Big South Conference bus rides or losses to VMI and Liberty.

Financially secure at 61, he was three years removed from a coaching career spanning 29 NCAA Division I seasons at South Alabama (1975-84), Clemson (1984-94) and Auburn (1994-2004) with eight NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 NIT trips.

Only a last-second shot by Connecticut's Tate George kept his 1990 Clemson team from the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. His Auburn program made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

But there he was Monday night at Kimbel Arena, the new Coastal Carolina head coach zipping about the Chanticleers' sideline late in a tight game against UNC Asheville and waving his arms at the student section across the floor.

"Get up!" Ellis shouted. "Get up!"

He kept cheerleading, even creeping several feet onto the court.

"Get up!"

Wearing a lime green tie, no less.

The students complied, roaring as sophomore guard Logan Johnson made a 3-point shot to cut UNC Asheville's lead to 46-44 with 5:04 remaining.

"I know Coach Ellis wants a home-court advantage as much as we do," Johnson said. "When he gets them going, it's a great feeling."

It wasn't enough. Injury-riddled Coastal Carolina lost to the Bulldogs and 7-7 center Kenny George, 56-52, to fall to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the Big South going into Saturday's home game against Charleston Southern (1 p.m., Fox Sports South television).

"I've taken on a massive building operation, you can see that. Massive," Ellis said. "But I love rebuilding. I love the game, I love teaching and I missed the competition."

As a TV analyst, he got a close look at "mid-major" programs, including the College of Charleston last season with former Hilton Head retiree Bobby Cremins in his first year as head coach. Ellis consulted with Cremins, Citadel athletic director Les Robinson and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

When Ellis led Clemson to the 1990 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship, he clinched Clemson's only such title with a victory over Coach K's Blue Devils and other fellow ACC coaches also included Cremins (Georgia Tech) and Robinson (N.C. State).

"I asked Bobby last year what it was like getting back," Ellis said. "He said, 'Truly, it's helping me stay young.' He said it was like running, at first you have to get in condition and then it's just like riding a bicycle. It's been the same for me."

Surely, another part of the lure was salary (a five-year contract calls for $150,000 a year) and location (Cliff and Carolyn Ellis are renting in Surfside Beach while building a home overlooking Murrells Inlet).

For its investment, Coastal Carolina wants Ellis to stick around. The Myrtle Beach Sun News reports his buyout clause is $1.5 million, perceived insurance after Buzz Peterson left two seasons into his Chanticleers tenure to take a front-office job with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.

"Cliff wants to build a program," said Coastal Carolina athletic director Warren "Moose" Koegel, a former Penn State and NFL offensive lineman. "These kids are playing their hearts out and a lot of it is because of Cliff and his staff. We're really excited about the future."

Koegel knew Ellis was forced out at Clemson and Auburn, and knew Ellis had run-ins with the NCAA during his tenure at both schools.

"We investigated it, called people and talked to him about it," Koegel said. "We found out his name was not really mentioned in any of it. We got the true story, I think. When we had a chance to hire somebody with that kind of coaching experience, we did it, and he's a great person."

Ellis introduced himself to Coastal Carolina boosters with a $10,000 donation to the school. His young staff includes Jimbo Tolbert, one of his former Auburn team managers.

"The very first team meeting we had when I was at Auburn and the way he commanded the room, that's the day I figured I wanted to be a coach," Tolbert said. "I was in awe."

Ellis seems to have adapted well to a team led by senior guard Jack Leasure, the Big South's best shooter. Leasure, a history major who introduced presidential candidate Barack Obama at a campus rally last fall, knows leadership.

"This is my third coach in four years but it's turned out great," Leasure said. "He's a lot of fun to play for and he's a good preparation coach. It's a real thinking man's game with him."

Ellis, who says he has nothing but sweet feelings for Clemson and Auburn, knows how he wants this story to end.

"I want a championship here," Ellis said. "I took this job because there was one winning season in the last 13 years. I'm not a Kentucky or Duke guy. I'm an Auburn, Clemson, South Alabama guy. I love the challenge. This is me."

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5593.