Ernie Nestor
Ernie Nestor (born August 19, 1946)
Teams coached: George Mason Patriots, Elon Phoenix
George Mason record: 68-81 (.456)
Elon record: 67-117 (.364)
Overall record: 135-198 (.405)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (1989)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- SoCon Regular Season Champion: 1 (2006)
- CAA Tournament Champion: 1 (1989)
Awards:
- SoCon Coach of the Year: 1 (2006)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2018-2020 | Wake Forest (special asst. to the HC) |
| 2012-2017 | Navy (asst) |
| 2011-2012 | Missouri (asst) |
| 2010-2011 | Penn State (DBO) |
| 2009-2010 | New Jersey Nets (scout) |
| 2003-2009 | Elon |
| 2001-2003 | South Carolina (asst) |
| 1993-2001 | Wake Forest (asst) |
| 1988-1993 | George Mason |
| 1985-1988 | California (asst) |
| 1979-1985 | Wake Forest (asst) |
| 1976-1979 | James Madison (asst) |
Ernie Nestor Facts
- Ernie Nestor
- Born August 19, 1946
- Hometown: Philippi, West Virginia
- Alma Mater: Alderson Broaddus University (BA, 1968) / West Virginia University (MA, 1970)
- Got his career started coaching at Bassett HS (VA), where he was head boys’ coach from 1970-76
- Joined Lou Campanelli‘s staff at James Madison in 1976, coaching there for three seasons
- Arrived at Wake Forest for his first of three stints in 1979, spending the next six years assisting Carl Tacy
- Was part of three NCAA Tournaments and two NITs while on Tacy’s staff
- Reunited with Campanelli out West in 1985 where he became an assistant at California
- Became a head coach in 1988 when he was hired to lead the program at George Mason
- Went 68-81 over five seasons, starting out with back-to-back 20-win seasons and NCAA bid in 1989
- However, his last two teams each went 7-21 and in 1993, Nestor resigned
- Returned to Wake, where he was an assistant under Dave Odom from 1993 to 2001
- Followed Odom to South Carolina in 2001, spending two more years on his staff (ten total)
- Part of five NCAA Tournaments, four NITs (including the 2000 NIT title) and two ACC Tournament titles
- Got another shot at head coaching, leading the Elon program for six seasons
- Finished below .500 in all but one season, though the Phoenix did win a share of the SoCon North in 2006
- Spent one year each as a scout with the New Jersey Nets, director of basketball operations at Penn State (under Ed DeChellis) and assistant at Missouri (under Frank Haith)
- Worked under DeChellis for an additional five years at Navy before retiring from coaching in 2017
- Came out of retirement in 2018 and spent two seasons as a special assistant to head coach Danny Manning at Wake Forest
- Along with his wife, Janet, has two daughters, Stephanie and Jennifer
Ernie Nestor Coaching Tree
- Todd Bozeman (Morgan State, California)
- Brian Ellerbe (Michigan, Loyola MD)
- Wes Miller (UNC Greensboro)