Release courtesy of Al King, Ashland University Sports Information Director

ASHLAND, Ohio -- Ashland University today named John Ellenwood as its men’s basketball coach. The announcement was made by AU director of athletics Bill Goldring at an afternoon press conference.

“John Ellenwood is exactly what we were looking for to lead our men’s basketball program at Ashland University,” said Goldring. “He’s a bright, young, energetic coach who is proven to be a winner on and off the court. He’s the perfect fit for our institution and athletic department.

“We had a very high level of interest in our position, we had over 130 applicants,” continued Goldring. “It reinforces what we all thought here, that our men’s basketball program can return to its former glory. We’re all excited to get started with a new era of Eagle basketball.”

Ellenwood comes to Ashland from Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, KY. He just completed his third season as the head coach of that program. His first year, he took over a team that had won two games the year before. In his first season (2006-207), the Saints were 3-23.

The following season Thomas More improved to 11-16 and for the first time in school history, reached the semifinals of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. That set the stage for this past season when Thomas More went 19-9 and for the first time in school history, won the regular season and conference tournament championships. That win total is the highest in school history (since the program became an NCAA Division III institution). For the first time in school history, Thomas More was invited to the NCAA Division III tournament. The Saints lost in the first round to Capital.

In 2008-2009, Thomas More had three players selected to the all-conference team and Ellenwood was named the conference’s coach of the year. The basketball team’s cumulative grade point average was 3.0 and the Saints received the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Team Sportsmanship Award.

“He’s a very, very good recruiter,” said Thomas More director of athletics Terry Connor. “He knows exactly what type of player he wants in his system. He has a great eye for talent. The second thing with John is his presence. It’s an intangible presence. He walks into a room and you know he’s the head coach. That’s key, his presence demands respect. He’s just got it.

“He’s low key, he’s just going to get it done,” continued Connor, a former basketball coach. “He’s blue collar all the way. He knows how to work and work hard. His X’s and O’s are off the chart. I’ve sat and watched film with him and what he takes off the film is just amazing.”

The transformation Ellenwood directed at Thomas More was just one reason that Goldring and the AU search committee were attracted to him. The new head coach has deep and strong ties to Ohio. He played basketball at the College of Wooster (2000 graduate) and he has served as an assistant coach at Ohio Wesleyan (2000-2003) and Capital (2003-2006). Ellenswood knows a little bit about the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), the league that AU calls home. He began his collegiate playing career at Lake Superior State before transferring to Wooster.

Ellenwood played at Wooster from 1996-2000. During that time the Fighting Scots were 96-19. Ellenwood scored 1,203 points in his career and is 12th in career points at Wooster. He is the NCAC career leader in field goal percentage (65 percent) and holds the conference single-game record for most field goals without a missed shot (11).

Ellenwood was an All-America in 2000 and earned a spot on the all-region outfit in 1999 and 2000. He was named first team All-NCAC three times and played on three conference championship teams. The Fighting Scots advanced to the NCAA playoffs all four years he was at Wooster and the 1999-2000 team is the only unit in NCAC history to go undefeated during the season and postseason. Ellenwood played on teams that advanced to the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen in 1999 and 2000.

“John was an outstanding player,” said Wooster head coach Steve Moore. “He had a large impact on our team, he is one of the best post players to ever play at the College of Wooster. For our level, John was very gifted, he had good size, good strength, and was a good all-around player. John became an All-American because of his dedication. That was especially true in the weight room and when he worked on his skills. He was always very dedicated about working on his skills. He was very efficient.”

Ellenwood left Wooster with a 3.2 grade point average as a psychology/education major. He was awarded a prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship. The new AU head coach went on to earn a master of education degree in sport management from Bowling Green in 2004. His thesis was “What is it like to retire from small college athletes?”

A native of Sylvania, OH, Ellenwood worked under head coach Mike Dewitt during his tenure as an assistant coach at Ohio Wesleyan. He was the director of scouting and recruiting and worked closely with the post players. While he was on the staff, Ohio Wesleyan made a jump from the conference’s second division to the point where it finished third in the league behind Wooster and Wittenberg.

At Capital, Ellenwood coordinated recruiting and scouting and organized and managed the junior varsity program. Capital was 45-31 during his three years on campus, including a 17-9 mark in 2003-2004. The 2004-2005 team was 16-9. Ellenwood was the coach of a junior varsity team that was 10-4 that season. Since he left Capital to go to Thomas More, the players he helped recruit formed a team that was ranked in the nation’s Top 10 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.

Connor said that the style of play Ellenwood utilized at Thomas More will remind fans of one of the teams in this year’s Division I Final Four.

“It’s a little like Michigan State,” noted Connor. “He’ll push the ball, try to get it up the floor quickly. His defense is very aggressive, especially in the half-court situation. The ball pressure and pressure on the pass, both are very, very good.”

“His teams have been fundamentally sound and play very hard,” said Moore. “John has been in a number of programs. We saw his game in the NCAA playoffs against Capital and I thought his team did a good job with full-court pressure. He had his team prepared.”

Ellenwood’s mother is Audrey Ellenwood, the coordinator and associate professor in the school psychology program at Bowling Green. His wife, Abbi, is a school psychologist who is originally from Titusville, PA. The couple has a son, John Calvin Ellenwood, Jr., and a daughter, Mollie, who was born yesterday.

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