Chris Ellis brings extensive basketball coaching experience to North Callaway High School as the new head girls basketball coach. 

His career includes coaching women’s basketball at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels, including experience with the Women’s Basketball Association (WBA). Ellis brings a resume of more than 650 career wins, six NCAA tournament appearances at both the Division II and Division III levels, and seven Missouri state quarterfinal appearances.

“I’m incredibly honored and extremely excited to be given the opportunity to head the girls’ basketball program at North Callaway and to be part of the Thunderbird community,” Ellis said. “Our girls’ basketball program will be predicated upon high expectations and impactful relationships both on and off the court.”

Ellis is a six-time St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, a recipient of the St. Louis Metro Area Most Outstanding High School Coach Award (1997), and a 2009 St. Louis Athletics Hall of Fame Champions Award honoree. He was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2012, the Maryville University Hall of Fame in 2018, and will be inducted into the Parkway South Hall of Fame in 2026.

A graduate of Parkway West High School and Maryville University — Ellis has been a near-lifelong resident of Ballwin, Missouri. He and his family are proud of daughter Zoe, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in marine science at Saint Louis University, and son Drew, a collegiate football player at McKendree University in Illinois studying physical education.

"We are thrilled to welcome Coach Ellis to North Callaway," activities director Dale Long said. "His record of sustained excellence, his depth of experience, and his passion for developing young athletes make him an extraordinary addition to our program.”