Former Basketball Head Coach - Coastal Carolina

PANELISTS

Cliff Ellis 

GASTON COLLEGE FOUNDATION 

PRESENTS

Creating a Winning Culture

Thursday, October 24, 2024

6–8 p.m.

Gaston College

201 Highway 321 S., Dallas, NC 28034 

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Join us for dinner, drinks, and an evening of motivational conversation with college coaching greats Cliff Ellis, Bobby Lutz, Donna Papa and Tom Walter. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Gaston College Athletics Fund.

Speaker Panel Event

Ellis spent 49 seasons as a collegiate head coach before retiring in 2023. He finished his career as the ninth-winningest coach NCAA Division I history. As a coach, Ellis captured eight conference regular season titles, two conference tournament crowns, six conference Coach of the Year honors, and an AP National Coach of the Year award. In additional to Coastal Carolina, Ellis also held head coach roles at Auburn, Clemson, South Alabama and Cumberland.

EVENT INFORMATION

TICKETS

Early Bird Rate: $100 per individual ticket if purchased by Oct. 14, 2024

Regular Rate: $120 per individual ticket if purchased after Oct. 14, 2024

Table Rate: $750 per table (includes eight tickets)

Former Basketball Head Coach - UNC Charlotte

Lutz is the winningest head coach in 49ers men's basketball history, leading them to eight postseason appearances (five NCAA and three NIT). While at UNCC he also earned Coach of the Year honors and was named a Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year finalist. Lutz was also head coach at Pfeiffer University and has held assistant coach positions with Clemson, Iowa State, NC State, the Windy City Bulls, and Nebraska.

Bobby Lutz 

Donna Papa

Former Softball Head Coach - UNC

Papa spent 38 of her 40-year head coaching career at Carolina and retired in 2023 as the second-winningest coach in NCAA softball history. As Carolina's coach, Papa made 15 NCAA tournament appearances and earned five ACC regular-season championships. She is also a five-time ACC Coach of the Year and was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012. 

Tom Walter

Head Coach Baseball - Wake Forest

Walter is in his 15th season as head coach of Wake Forest Baseball. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2023 and sits as the second-winningest coach in program history. Walter guided the Demon Deacons to the program's third-ever Men's College World Series in 2023 in one of the team's greatest seasons in program history. Before joining Wake Forest, Walter held head coaching positions at New Orleans and George Washington.

Proceeds from this event will benefit the Gaston College Athletics Fund which is designated to ensure the successful growth of Gaston College athletes by providing scholarship opportunities and support throughout the academic year, as well as to meet the greatest needs of the Gaston College Athletic Department.

Ticket includes:

• Dinner
• Two drink tickets
• Auction opportunities

Sponsorship Opportunities

• Title Sponsor - $10,000
• Auction Sponsor - $5,000
• Dinner Sponsor - $3,000
• Bar Sponsor - $3,000
• Table Sponsor - $1,000

Sponsorships include up to 8 tickets that can be requested when booking your sponsorship package. If you're interested in becoming an event sponsor, contact Jerome Connor at [email protected] or 704.922.6513.

Brown is a sports journalist, the founder of Extra Points, and a former writer for SBNation College Football. 

Moderated by Matt Brown