Edward Richard DeChellis (born November 14, 1958) is an American
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
coach and current head men's basketball coach at the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
. Previously he was the head coach at
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
from 2003-2011 and at
East Tennessee State from 1996-2003. At Penn State, DeChellis led the Nittany Lions to an
NIT Title in 2009 and an
NCAA tournament berth in 2011. DeChellis' years at East Tennessee State yielded three conference division titles and one
NCAA tournament berth. He was named the head coach at Navy in 2011, following the departure of
Billy Lange
William Lange (born February 11, 1972) is an American college basketball coach, currently the men's head coach at Saint Joseph's University. He was previously an assistant head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to joining the 76ers, he was ...
.
DeChellis received the 2009
Big Ten Coach of the Year
Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each American football, football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football p ...
award and 2006 National Coaches vs. Cancer Man of the Year. He was born in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania suburb of Monaca and has three daughters with his wife Kim.
Coaching
DeChellis was the head coach of the East Tennessee State University Men’s Basketball program from 1996 to 2003, winning three Southern Conference north division titles (2000–03). Prior to joining East Tennessee State, DeChellis served as an assistant coach at Salem College (WV) and Penn State University.
In 2003, DeChellis inherited a Penn State team that had gone 7–21 the previous two seasons. In his first two seasons, Penn State won 9 and 7 games, respectively, before finishing 15–15 in 2005–06. During this time, DeChellis recruited Geary Claxton and Jamelle Cornley to PSU.
Despite DeChellis' widely critiqued decision to release promising sophomore Milos Bogetic from his scholarship,
the 2007–08 Nittany Lions entertained hopes of being a dark-horse contender in the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
and possibly even winning enough games to get into the NCAA Tournament. Those hopes were quickly disintegrated when senior forward Geary Claxton went down with an
anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...
injury in January. The Lions were plagued with more injuries, when junior forward Jamelle Cornley battled a bruised knee all season. The Lions went 15–16 in the 2007–08 season in a team that started four freshman in the end. Highlights included upset wins over top-10 ranked
Michigan State
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
and top-20 ranked
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
.
DeChellis led the Lions to a 21–10 regular season in
2008–09, equaling the Penn State record for regular-season wins. The Nittany Lions were 10-8 in the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
, the most for Penn State since 1995–96.
DeChellis was named
Big Ten Coach of the Year
Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each American football, football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football p ...
.
The Nittany Lions went on to win the
2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), the first national tournament title in Penn State Men's Basketball history.
In the
2010-2011 season, DeChellis' Nittany Lions earned a spot in the
NCAA tournament, the school's first since 2000-2001. The 10th-seeded Lions fell in the opening round to the 7th-seed
Temple Owls
The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson.
The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 18 ...
.
On May 23, 2011, it was announced that DeChellis would leave Penn State to become the head coach at Navy.
DeChellis holds a bachelor's degree from Penn State University.
Head coaching record
References
External links
Penn State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dechellis, Ed
1958 births
Living people
American men's basketball coaches
Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball coaches
Navy Midshipmen men's basketball coaches
Penn State Nittany Lions basketball coaches
Pennsylvania State University alumni
People from Monaca, Pennsylvania
Salem Tigers men's basketball coaches
Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area