Marion’s Ceaser signs with Coastal Carolina

Patriots hoop standout taking talents to the Chanticleers

Marion School District One of Marion’s stars of last year’s state championship team will be playing at the next level. Timothy Ceaser announced that he will be attending Coastal Carolina University in the fall after months of help from the Marion coaching staff, even after the season ended.

Coastal Carolina was one of several schools the 6-foot 8-inch forward visited over the summer.

However, it was the work ethic of the Chanticleer players that Ceaser said stuck in his mind when he was deciding on where to land.

“The Coastal players worked harder than any of the others we went to,” Ceaser said. “They went hard in their practices and that’s the kind of effort I wanted to see. They’ve got a real good chance to win the Sun Belt championship.”

Marion coach David Clark, the 2019 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Coach of the Year, was with Ceaser in almost every step of his journey to Coastal Carolina. Clark said he thinks Ceaser is a good fit for the Chanticleers because of the skill set he has for a person of his size.

“Tim is going to offer them stability on their front line,” Clark said. “He’s a dynamic player that has only touched the surface of how good he is going to be. Coastal hasn’t had an athlete like this for a long time.”

The Chanticleer basketball team has made the NCAA tournament four times, the last two appearances coming in 2014 and 2015. Their head coach, Cliff Ellis, has a long coaching career that Ceaser said could help him reach his full potential.

“(Coach Ellis) said that he always tries to keep his players best interests in mind when he makes decisions,” Ceaser said. “

He also said that he always does everything in his power to help his players reach the next level.”

Ellis is 17th on the alltime Division-I basketball wins list with 842 wins.

He was a two-time ACC Coach of the Year with the Clemson Tigers and a two-time SEC Coach of the Year as well as AP Coach of the Year in 1999 with the Auburn Tigers.

“Tim is definitely in good hands with that coaching staff,” Clark said. “Coach Ellis is probably going to be in the hall of fame one day, and their coaching staff was the most consistent as far as reaching out to us about him.”