Former Louisville Guard El Ellis Commits to Arkansas
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Should he remain in the collegiate ranks, El Ellis has found his new home.
The former Louisville men's basketball guard, who was the Cardinals' leading scorer this past season before entering the transfer portal earlier this month, announced Monday that he has committed to Arkansas. He is also still actively going through the NBA Draft process, and has not yet decided if he wants to remain in the draft or head to the Razorbacks.
Ellis is the third former Cardinal to find his new transfer home. Kamari Lands’ is heading out west to Arizona State, and Jae'Lyn Withers is staying in the ACC and transferring to North Carolina.
The senior guard originally declared for the NBA Draft late last month while maintaining his collegiate eligibility, but then opted to enter his name into the portal on Apr. 6. He has one year of college ball remaining thanks to a COVID waiver year of eligibility that he can use at his disposal.
The decision to finish his career elsewhere was complete shift in Ellis' mindset from earlier this year. Ahead of Louisville's Senior Day, he admitted that his intent was to test the NBA waters, but that if he was to come back to college, it would be with the Cardinals.
"I just don't feel comfortable going to another school. I feel like Louisville is the place for me," he said back in March. "Even through everything that's been going on - the coaching change, the records, everything like that - I feel like if I'm going to come back and go to college again, I'm going to come back to Louisville because I didn't finish the way I wanted to. I want to leave as a winner, a that's something I didn't get to do. If college is going to be the next option for me, then I'm coming back to Louisville."
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound combo guard was a bright spot on an otherwise bleak season for Louisville. His 17.7 points per game finished third in the ACC behind Wake Forest's Tyree Applyby and NC State's Terquavion Smith, and his 4.4 assists per game came in at eighth in the league. He also shot 41.0 percent from the field, 31.9 percent on three-point attempts and 81.0 percent from the free throw line. He was named an All-ACC Honorable Mention as a result.
A former two-time JUCO All-American at Tallahassee Community College, Ellis joined Louisville for the 2021-22 season, and had an immediate impact. He averaged 8.7 points per game to finish as Louisville's third-leading scorer, averaged 1.6 assists per game, and was UofL's top three-point shooter by shooting percentage at 36.0 percent.
The Cardinals went just 4-28 this past season in their first year under head coach Kenny Payne, and roster management has been in full swing since the end of their season. Louisville has seen seven players enter the transfer portal, with only Mike James, J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor returning.
Conversely, Payne and his staff have been hard at work when it comes to bringing in fresh talent for next season. They signed four-star wings Kaleb Glenn and Curtis Williams Jr. during last November's early signing period, then inked five-star center Dennis Evans, five-star reclass guard/forward Trentyn Flowers, Illinois transfer guard Skyy Clark and JUCO guard Koron Davis last week.
Louisville's five-man recruiting 2023 class, which is the first full cycle for Payne, ranks as the No. 5 class in the nation according to 247Sports. Despite having just one transfer commitment in Clark, their transfer class comes in at No. 26 in the nation also by 247Sports.
(Photo of El Ellis: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)
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