Former NBA player, Mamadou N'diaye, joins Cliff Ellis coaching staff at Coastal Carolina.

N'diaye, a former player of Ellis when he coached at Auburn, joins the CCU basketball coaching staff for the 2011-2012 season. According to the CCU press release Ellis had this to say about his new hire:

“Mamadou is one of the most intelligent and hardest working players that I have ever coached,” Ellis said.  “His success is due to the face that he is energetic, committed and mentally understands what needs to be in all aspects of the game.  He understands our systems very well and is extremely familiar with what we want to do.  He also has those intangibles that I was looking for in a coach, and I am very excited to have him on our staff.”

N’Diaye, who is the first coach in Coastal Carolina history to have played in the NBA, continued his NBA career by playing for the Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors.  He recently retired from playing professionally after international stints in both Greece and China.