Jeff Cleanthes

• Schools Rutgers University, Drew University
• High School Somers High School

Jeff Cleanthes has been a college coach.

Cleanthes was an All-Mid-Atlantic Conference outfielder in 1989 and also played soccer in college. He then went on to Rutgers, where he got a MBA in Accounting. He was working on the 98th floor of One World Trade Center in 1993 when a car bomb was driven into the twin towers. Cleanthes spent three hours escaping the building. He decided to quit his $50,000 accounting job to take up a $12,000 job as a junior varsity baseball coach at his old high school. He was promoted to head coach and went 49-27 in that role.

Cleanthes was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Belmont Abbey College then was head coach of Keuka College from 2001-2003. He won North Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2002. He next was hired as head coach of Rhodes College. He led NCAA Division III in biggest improvement from 2005 to 2006 (15 games) then set a school record for wins at 36-10 in 2007.

Sources

• Rhodes article on Cleanthes' experience at the World Trade Center
• Rhodes bio