Darren Tillis
DarrenTillis '96 Basketball
When he was recruited by Cleveland State a little more than twenty years ago as a senior out of Lincoln High in Dallas, Texas, Darren Tillis stood 6-foot-9 and weighed 155 pounds. By the time he left CSU in 1982, Tillis had played in every game of his college career, then-record 105 contests, and had matured to 6-foot-11 and 220 pounds. He had also put his name in the CSU record book as one of the all-time greats and helped lead his teams to some of their most successful seasons.
Tillis began his Viking career with a strong freshman season as the squad went 15-20, establishing a then-record for wins in a season in the process. Starting 18 of 25 games, Tillis set a CSU record with 51 blocked shots and became the fifth freshman to lead the team in rebounding with 173(6.9 rpg). He finished second on the squad with a freshman-record .526 field goal percentages (103-196) and third in both field goals made and scoring with 237 points. Following the season, Tillis was named to the Plain Dealer's Greater Cleveland Collegiate All-Star First Team.
As a sophomore, Tillis really began to blossom. Starting all 26 games, he helped guide CSU to another record season, as the team went 18-8 in 1979-80. Tillis was the top Viking in field goal accuracy, with a then-record mark of .555 (127-229), in board work with 8.3 rpg and in blocked shots with 48. In addition, he was second on the team in scoring with 11.0 ppg. He scored in double-figures 17 times and had ten games of ten or more rebounds.
Tillis' junior campaign was more of the same. The Vikings went 18-9, with Tillis starting all 27 contests. Just the second CSU player to gab 300 or more rebounds, he ranked 12th in the nation while leading the team at 11.4 rpg. He was also the team's top shot clocker with 48 and broke his field goal percentage record with a .568 mark. Tillis was the Vikes' second- leading scorer at 16.0 ppg. For the season, Tillis scored more than ten point 23 times and grabbed ten or more boards on 18 occasions. He earned All-Mideast honors and First Team All-City kudos.
Saving his best for last, Tillis broke more records his senior year in leading the Vikings to a 17-10 finish. He finished third in the country in rebounding, corralling 12.8 rpg. He also led CSU in scoring at 17.3 ppg and blocked shots with 50, becoming the first Viking to lead the team in points, rebounds, and blocks in the same season. At Morehead State, Tillis became the seventh CSU player to score 1,000 career points and later in the year, at Youngstown State, He became just the second player in school history to pull down 1,000 boards. He scored a career-high 33 points at Xavier during his final campaign while grabbing a career-best 22 caroms at Valparaiso. At season's end, Tillis became CSU's second All-American in basketball, getting the nod from the Sporting News while also being named All-Midwest, National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District, and CSU's Most Outstanding Player. In addition, he played in the Aloha Classic and all-star festival for the top college player's from around the country.
Tillis is the only player to lead CSU in blocked shots four straight seasons and, along with CSU Hall-of-Famer Weldon Kytle, is one of just two student-athletes to lead the Vikes in rebounding four straight years and to make the Double-Grand Club with both 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. He currently holds CSU career record with 197 blocked shots and season records of 346 rebounds and 51 blocks. Tillis stands second in school annals with 1,045 rebounds and fourth with 1,423 points. He is also among the top ten in field goals made, field goal percentage, minutes played, games started and rebounding average.
Following his senior season, Tillis was the Boston Celtics' first-round pick in the 1982 NBA draft. He played 17 games for the Celtics before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in January of 1983. He logged 37 games as a Cav and scored 22 points with 18 rebounds in his first NBA start versus the Kansas City Kings. Tillis spent the following season with the Golden State Warriors before trying his luck in Italy, where he led his team to two championships in as many seasons.
The rest of Tillis' playing career was abbreviated by an injury in the 1985-86 seasons. He sat out 1986-87 and played in Spain the following season, but retired from active play in the 1989 off season.
Tillis tuned to coaching in 1993 and spent two seasons as the head coach of Ockelbo in Sweden. He returned to the States in 1995 to become an assistant at Southern Methodist University. While in his hometown, Tillis earned a bachelor's degree in history from Paul Quinn College. After two year in Dallas, he joined the coaching staff of former CSU assistant coach Larry Shyatt, the man who had recruited him to become a Viking, at the University Wyoming. He currently serves as an assistant to Shyatt at Clemson University, where they guided the Tigers to a 19- win season in 1998-99.
