Coastal Carolinas Cliff Ellis, active leader in D1 coaching wins, announces retirement
Coastal Carolina menβs basketball coach Cliff Ellis, the active leader in Division I career wins, is retiring, the school announced Wednesday. Associate head coach Benny Moss will assume head coaching duties for the remainder of the season.
Ellis, 78, concludes his illustrious career with 831 wins across four Division I schools (South Alabama, Clemson, Auburn and Coastal Carolina) and an additional 78 wins at NAIA school Cumberland. Notably, he led all four Division I teams to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 three times β once with Clemson and twice with Auburn.
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Thank you Coach for all youβve done for @CoastalMBB and college basketball! π
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β Chants. (@GoCCUsports) December 6, 2023
Ellis secured eight regular-season championships, the latest in 2014 with Coastal Carolina. His most memorable season was with Auburn in 1998-99, clinching the SEC regular-season championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Ohio State.
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Ellis retires after 46 seasons and currently sits in ninth place in career coaching wins at Division I, according to the NCAA. Kentuckyβs John Calipari becomes the new active wins leader at 796.
(Photo: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
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