Temple University Athletics
ELLERBEE NAMED THIRD ASSISTANT ON TEMPLE BASKETBALL STAFF
9.5.02 | Men's Basketball
Ellerbee, 60, created a Philadelphia Public League basketball dynasty at Simon Gratz High School between 1982 and 2002. During that span, his Bulldogs compiled an overall win-loss record of 452-100 (an .819 winning percentage), appeared in 20 consecutive playoff tournaments, qualified for 12 title games and won six championships. In the 1990-91 season, Gratz posted a season record of 27-1 and was crowned as the mythical national champion in the final national ESPN high school poll. In the 1992-93 campaign, the Bulldogs achieved absolute perfection with a 30-0 mark, and were tabbed "national champions" by USA Today.
Among the many accomplishments of his program at Gratz were a 107-game regular season Public League winning streak and a 134-game streak including playoff games. He coached 11 Daily News All-City players, including former Owls Aaron McKie and Lynard Stewart. Ellerbee was named the Philadelphia Public League Coach of the Year in 1991, the State of Pennsylvania Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1997 and National Coach of the Year by ESPN and USA Today in 1993. He is a three-time Hall of Fame inductee, including the Rotary Club of Latrobe, PA, the Myrtle Beach, SC Beach Ball Classic and Five-Star Camps International.
Ellerbee began his professional career in the Philadelphia Public Schools as a mathematics instructor at Simon Gratz in 1970, and continued to teach the course until his retirement this past June. He served for 31 years as an Assistant Recreation Leader with the City of Philadelphia Department of Recreation. In 1988, he was a co-founder and served for five years as deputy director of Total Response, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to the development and coordination of youth motivational programs through athletics.
A 1970 graduate of Cheney State University, Ellerbee went on to complete educational training in mathematics at the University of Illinois, the Andover Dartmouth Institute and Endicott College. Between 1964 and 1968, he served in the United States Marine Corps and is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.
