Coleman was raised in Flora, Mississippi.[1] His father, E.C. Sr. (died 1998), was a United States Army veteran and worked as a roofer.[2] Coleman was given his father's initials because his mother did not want to name him Efram III.[3] He would labor 12 hours a day to help his parents who worked as sharecroppers until he was eligible for junior high school.[1] Coleman was not interested in basketball until he met the head coach of the team at E. Flora High School, Gene Henderson, who encouraged him to play.[1]
College career
Coleman played college basketball for the Houston Baptist Huskies from 1969 to 1973.[4] He led the team in rebounds all four seasons he played and led in scoring for three seasons.[5] Coleman was a prolific scorer during his collegiate career;[4] his 1,846 points are the second highest in program history.[5] Coleman is the all-time program record holder in rebounds with 1,287.[5] He was the first member of his family to graduate from high school and college.[4]
Coleman was inducted into the Houston Baptist (now Houston Christian) Huskies Hall of Honor in 1997.[5] The Huskies' most valuable player award is named after him.[5]
On October 3, 1977, Coleman signed with the Golden State Warriors.[7] He was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team in 1978.[8] The Warriors attempted to trade Coleman but were unable to make a deal and waived him on November 2, 1978.[9]
On November 9, 1978, Coleman signed with the Rockets to return for a second stint.[10] His playing time was limited due to the Rockets having four other forwards on their roster.[6] On December 24, Coleman was waived by the Rockets.[11] On December 29, Coleman returned to the Rockets as an assistant coach with the responsibility of scouting colleges.[12] He discovered Allen Leavell when he attended a game at Houston Baptist to receive an honor and Leavell was on the opposing team.[13] Coleman was not retained for the 1979–80 season.[14]
Post-playing career
After his playing career ended, Coleman worked as a doorman for the Four Seasons Hotel.[15] In a 1984 interview, he said, "I never felt I had to take any steps down after basketball because I hadn't taken that many steps up."[15] Coleman was working as a limousine driver in 1986.[16]
Player profile
Coleman was regarded as one of the premier defensive forwards in the NBA during his career.[10] He excelled against set players who were not prone to movement and was considered as being particularly adept at denying them the ball.[6] The prohibiting of defensive hand-checking was considered to restrict his impact.[6][17]
Rick Barry claimed "no other player in the league gives me as much trouble as E.C."[1]George McGinnis admitted that he would not drive the baseline when he was being defended by Coleman.[1]Rudy Tomjanovich said that Coleman was "by far the toughest defensive player that [he] had to go up against" during his Jazz and Warriors tenures.[10]M. L. Carr chose Coleman as his "most difficult player to score against" and credited him as being "strong, quick and agile" with "a burning desire to make people have a bad game."[18]Butch van Breda Kolff called Coleman "one of the more underrated players in our league."[1]
Personal life
Coleman's younger brother, Mack, was his teammate on the Houston Baptist Huskies and was selected by the Jazz in the 1975 NBA draft.[19] Mack died in 1977.[20] Another of Coleman's brothers also died in 1977 and his mother died in 1978;[21] their deaths "destroyed his concentration."[17]
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