DePaul announces Ellerbe as new assistant

CHICAGO - DePaul men's basketball coach Oliver Purnell announced today that Brian Ellerbe has joined the staff as an assistant coach. Ellerbe comes to DePaul after serving as an assistant coach last season at George Washington.

"Brian's wealth of experience and credentials are impeccable," said Purnell. "Not only is he an outstanding basketball coach, he is an outstanding person. In the 30 years I've know Brian, he has recruited, mentored and developed student-athletes at the highest levels of basketball."

Ellerbe served as head coach at Michigan from 1997-01 and Loyola (Md.) from 1994-97. He also made stops as an assistant coach at Bowling Green (1986-88), George Mason (1988-89), South Carolina (1989-90) and Virginia (1990-94).

During the 2009-10 campaign, Ellerbe helped George Washington reach the postseason and record the first winning record since the 2006-07 season. The Colonials went 16-15 and qualified for the College Basketball Invitational Tournament. He came to George Washington after spending eight years as a basketball consultant for collegiate and youth programs as well as four years as vice president for corporate development for Madison Grace Construction Services.

As head coach at Michigan for four seasons, the Wolverines won 14 games against nationally ranked teams and earned an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Tournament. That team won the inaugural Big Ten Tournament as the No. 4 seed with wins over Iowa, Minnesota and Purdue. Ellerbe also guided Michigan to the NIT in 2000. He joined the program as an assistant coach in 1997 before begin named interim head coach. Ellerbe played a key role in the recruitment, coaching and development of NBA players such as Jamal Crawford (8th pick in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls), Robert "Tractor" Traylor (6th pick in the 1998 Draft by the Dallas Mavericks), and Cory Alexander (29th Pick in the 1995 Draft by the San Antonio Spurs).

A native of Capitol Heights, Md., Ellerbe is a 1981 graduate of Bowie High School and a 1985 graduate of Rutgers where he still holds the school's single-game assist record with 16 helpers against N.C. State on Dec. 27, 1984. He played in the 1981 McDonald's Capital Classic alongside Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing among others.

Ellerbe replaces Kevin Nickelberry who was named head coach at Howard University on May 4.