Louisville Men’s Basketball wanted to join in on the recruiting party that football has been throwing recently. They have done so as yesterday they picked up a late addition to the 2020 class in Gabe Wiznitzer and today they picked up a commitment from 4 Star 2021 JUCO G El Ellis.
GO CRAZY AHHH GO STUPID🐔 pic.twitter.com/laDiXgrLZS
— 𝓔𝓵 𝓔𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓼 (@elellis3) June 24, 2020
The 6’3 175 lbs PG had the Cards listed among his Final 8 and eventually chose them over UConn, Oregon, Texas Tech, Georgia, Ole Miss, Iowa State, and NC Central. He will be joining fellow G Bobby Pettiford Jr in Louisville’s backcourt for 2021 and will have 2 years of eligibility. 247sports has ranked Ellis the number 1 JUCO prospect in the nation for 2021.
Ellis is a JUCO prospect who played for Tallahassee Community College last season. He’s originally from Durham, NC. While suiting up for the Eagles, Ellis proved himself to be high level prospect and drew the eyes of many successful high major programs. Last season, Ellis was a player that contributed in many ways for Tallahassee C.C. Ellis averaged 14.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game last season. Ellis shot 47.9 percent from the field, 40.3 percent from the arc, and 84.5 percent from the foul line.
El Ellis Highlights
Sam and Shawn watched Ellis’ highlights and broke down his game. You can read their thoughts below.
Shawn’s Breakdown
El Ellis has all the tools to be a quality starting G in the ACC. While listed as a PG, he can easily play SG as well. Ellis has excellent quickness and speed. These talents combined with his ball handling allow him to get to the rim consistently. When Ellis gets to the rim, he can finish in traffic and through contact. What really makes Ellis an ACC-caliber guard is his shooting from beyond the arc. Whether shooting off the catch or shooting off the dribble, Ellis is a high-level 3-point shooter. Ellis also has excellent court vision which allows him to utilize his passing ability to find open teammates when defenses key on him. Defensively, he has quick hands and can get steals. His quick feet help him stay in front of defenders.
What stands out immediately on Ellis’ highlights is his shooting ability, especially from beyond the arc. A nice, high release allows him to get his shot off and his stroke is smooth. His shot has a slight leg kick reminiscent of Cardinal Forever Dejuan Wheat. Ellis proves to be good at using ball screens to generate space to get his shot off which he usually drains. He’s also adept at using rhythm dribbles and pulling up for threes or using a nice step back move for the same purpose. Ellis doesn’t have to have the ball in his hands to be effective either. He understands how to get open and be in position to shoot immediately off a pass. Ellis also doesn’t mind pulling up on the break to drain open threes.
The next thing that stands out is Ellis’ ball handling and quickness. Ellis is a guard that can be trusted to have the ball in his hands a lot. He’s careful with it and understands how to change the pace of his dribble to set up drives. He exhibits a nice crossover and spin move. When in half court, he uses that nice crossover to set up defenders and drive. The acceleration he exhibits once he gets the defender off balance is excellent. His spin move is often used after he’s gotten in the paint on a drive and it perplexed defenders, leaving him a relatively easy little shot or layup virtually uncontested. In transition, he’s able to navigate easily through defenses, pushing the pace and finishing at the rim. He’s able to use nice jump stops and euro steps to get to the rim as well. His ability to change pace, get defenders off balance, turn the corner, and accelerate down hill to the rim is excellent.
Ellis is an excellent passer and sees the court well. On drives, when the opposing center comes to help, he uses wrap around passes and bounce passes to give his center an easy bucket. If the help comes from the wing or corner, Ellis can dish out picture perfect passes for open threes. Out at the top of the key, he is able to hit back door cutters with precision passes as well. He’s also very adept at running the pick and roll, finding his big rolling to the rim for an easy layup. I think he can grow even more as a passer and see his assist totals go up a little more.
As a finisher at the rim, Ellis is unbelievable. Even when multiple defenders are around the rim, Ellis can get the ball in the basket. Ellis can go left or right and finish with either hand. What makes Ellis such a fantastic finisher is his ability to hang in the air, adjust and contort his body, and get the ball through the hoop from a variety of angles. Ellis has a nice scoop shot, a nice finger roll, and a nice reverse layup. He’s strong and tough which allows him to be a threat for and-1s.
While his highlights don’t show as much defensively, we can make an educated guess as to how he would perform. His side-to-side quickness and speed leads me to believe he should be an able defender. He should be able to keep his man in front of him and stop them from penetrating the paint which is the hallmark of the pack line defense. What we do see in the highlights is Ellis has quick hands and should be able to get some steals and start some breaks.
El Ellis is a good size guard that gives Louisville another excellent ball handler. Within Coach Mack’s system, he should flourish.
Sam’s Breakdown
Louisville and Chris Mack will be getting an aggressive 3 level scorer with great playmaking abilities. The 6’3 Ellis is very athletic guard, who plays the game with great anticipation. He scored over 2,000 points in high school which will give Louisville a great scoring threat as a lead guard. As a JUCO guard, Ellis averaged over 14ppg, 4.5apg, and shot over 40% from beyond the arc.
Offensively, Ellis is very good in ball screen actions. His tight handle on the ball makes it extremely difficult to strip him on his drive to the basket. Ellis usually makes the right decision coming out of the ball screen action. However, he needs to work on diversifying his moves out of ball screen actions at the P5 level.
Ellis is a dominant right hand player. He loves driving right and finishing with his right hand. Ellis is also a very strong finisher around the basket. Ellis has the unique ability to simultaneously create and absorb contact while he attacks the rim. Ellis also has a bevy of ways to finish around the rim. He makes a lot of contested layups in the paint and contested jump shots from the perimeter.
Though a dominant right handed player, defenses should be weary of Ellis’s left hand dribble. When Ellis has the ball in his left hand he is either going to his consistent pull up jumper or attack the basket and spin right for a right handed layup. This young man will give defenses fits with his ability to score in a multitude of ways.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of Ellis’s game is his court vision and passing. Ellis has a knack for finding his teammates for open shots or layups. Like all the great point guards, he puts the ball in the right place at the right time for his teammates. Like all of the great quarterbacks, Ellis’ passes often lead his teammates to the open spot on the court.
Defensively, Ellis will do well in the pack line defense. He has great lateral quickness and strength to help deter opponents from getting their spots on the floor. Ellis’s ability to pressure the ball will be a great asset in coach Mack’s system. Ellis is a very pesky defender on the ball and off the ball, which often leads to a lot of deflections and steals for his team. As stated multiple times earlier, he plays with great anticipation which makes him so much faster than he already is.
El Ellis is a guard that fits what Coach Chris Mack wants in a guard. Standing 6’3, he has the type of size Coach Mack wants. His ability to break down defenses one-on-one off the dribble is something the staff and fans will love. His toughness when finishing around the rim is another skill Louisville needs. Ellis can shoot the lights out and run the offense. I suspect Ellis will likely be a starter right off the bat. If not, I believe he will play significant minutes in his first season regardless. Louisville is going to have a much deeper and talented backcourt with El Ellis’ addition.
With El Ellis’ commitment, Louisville now has 3 commits for 2021. 247sports has the class ranked 2nd nationally and 1st in the ACC. Coach Mack and staff are finding some success in these difficult times dealing with a pandemic and the NCAA issues. Kudos to them.
One Reply to “Louisville Men’s Basketball Picks Up Commitment From 2021 JUCO G El Ellis”