ROCKDALE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
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(TEMPLE)–TEMPLE COLLEGE HAS NEW COACHES TO
LEAD BOTH THE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PROGRAMS.
TEMPLE COLLEGE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR CRAIG
MCMURTRY ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK THAT AMBER
TAYLOR HAS BEEN HIRED AS HEAD WOMEN’S COACH.
THE HIRING COMES AFTER CLIFTON ELLIS WAS HIRED
IN APRIL AS HEAD MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH.
TAYLOR REPLACES COACH KIM SEBEK, WHO STEPPED
DOWN IN FEBRUARY AFTER 22 SEASONS LEADING THE
LADY LEOPARD PROGRAM. TAYLOR IS ORIGINALLY FROM
ARKANSAS. SHE WAS A MULTI-SPORT ATHLETE
AT MOUNTAIN VIEW HIGH SCHOOL, WHERE HER MOTHER
WAS THE GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH. SHE DIDN’T GET TO
PLAY FOR HER MOM, BUT HER INFLUENCE HELPED
DETERMINE TAYLOR’S CAREER PURSUIT.
TAYLOR ATTENDED CENTRAL ARKANSAS, WHERE
SHE PLAYED GOLF AND EARNED HER BACHELOR’S DEGREE
IN KINESIOLOGY AND ATHLETIC TRAINING. SHE FIRST
SERVED AS A GRADUATE ASSISTANT AT HARDING
UNIVERSITY, WHERE SHE OBTAINED HER MASTERS IN
EDUCATION.
SHE HAD COACHING STOPS AS AN ASSISTANT AT
PARIS JUNIOR COLLEGE AND JACKSONVILLE COLLEGE
BEFORE SHE WAS HIRED AS HEAD COACH AT EASTERN
OKLAHOMA STATE. SHE WAS NAMED NATIONAL JUNIOR
COLLEGIATE ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION COACH OF THE
YEAR IN 2012-2013 BEFORE SHE RETURNED TO TEXAS TO
COACH AT CISCO, A CONFERENCE FOE OF TEMPLE
COLLEGE.
ELLIS WAS HIRED A MONTH EARLIER TO REPLACE
MEN’S COACH KIRBY JOHNSON, WHO RETIRED AFTER
33 YEARS AT THE HELM OF THE LEOPARDS BASKETBALL
PROGRAM.
ELLIS PLAYED POINT GUARD FOR JOHNSON AND
FOR TEMPLE COLLEGE FROM 1995 TO 1997, AVERAGING
14 POINT 6 POINTS AND 10 POINT 4 ASSISTS AS A
SOHOMORE WHILE EARNING ALL-CONFERENCE AND
ALL-REGION HONORS, AS THE LEOPARDS REACHED
THE N-J-C-A-A REGION 5 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
GAME.
ELLIS COACHED AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL FOR
14 YEARS AT SAN ANTONIO WAGNER AND SCHERTZ
CLEMENS, COMPLING A 368-132 RECORD, A 74 PERCENT
WINNING PERCENTAGE. HE TOOK CLEMENS TO THE STATE
SEMIFINALS 4 TIMES.
