Ellerbe Added to DePaul Basketball Staff

New DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell named former Michigan coach and current George Washington assistant coach to his men’s basketball staff today.

Brian Ellerbe replaces Kevin Nickelberry who left DePaul for the head coach position at Howard University after just a few days on the job.

Ellerbe arrives at DePaul after serving as Karl Hobb’s assistant at George Washington for one year. He has also served as a basketball consultant for college and youth basketball programs.

"Brian's wealth of experience and credentials are impeccable," Purnell said in a statement. "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 was the head coach at Michigan for four seasons. During his tenure, the Wolverines won 14 games against nationally ranked teams and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 1998. The 1997-98 team won the inaugural Big Ten Tournament as the Number four seed with wins over Iowa, Minnesota and Purdue.

Ellerbe also guided the Wolverines to the NIT in 2000. He joined the program as an assistant coach in 1997 under head coach Steve Fisher, before begin named interim head coach.

Ellerbe played a key role in the recruitment, coaching and development of NBA players such as Jamal Crawford (eighth pick in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls), Robert "Tractor" Traylor (sixth pick in the 1998 Draft by the Dallas Mavericks), and Cory Alexander (29th Pick in the 1995 Draft by the San Antonio Spurs).

Prior to his stint at UM, Ellerbe served as the head coach at Loyola College in Baltimore for three seasons from 1994-95 through 1996-97. Prior to Loyola, he served stints as an assistant coach at Virginia, South Carolina, George Mason, Bowling Green State and was a grad asst. at Rutgers.

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 brings with him to Chicago his wife, Kimberly, and their young daughter, Amelie.