David Wells; Coach, Athletic Director in Claremont

David Lloyd Wells, former athletic director and men’s basketball coach at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, died Monday of cancer. He was 50.

Wells, who battled throat and mouth cancer for the last six years, died in Mesa, Ariz., where he was attending a baseball tournament.

Born in Palo Alto, Wells was a standout basketball and baseball player at Claremont Men’s College, now Claremont McKenna. After earning his bachelor’s degree in 1972, he was invited by basketball Coach Ted Ducey to be an assistant.

When Ducey was killed in a flash flood accident in Nevada, the school’s president at the time, Jack L. Stark, tapped Wells, who had graduated from the school two years earlier, to lead the basketball program.

During his 25-year coaching career, Wells’ record was 324-292, which included 15 winning seasons and six Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.

In 1995, Wells succeeded John Zinda as athletic director of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He resigned from coaching during the 1999 basketball season as his condition declined. He retired as athletic director in August.

He is survived by his wife, Jodie Burton Wells, the women’s basketball coach at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; three sons, John, Todd and Michael; and his parents, Jackie and David L. Wells of Holtville, Calif.

Memorial arrangements are pending.