Arkansas gains Louisville transfer El Ellis
The Arkansas Razorbacks have landed their fifth portal addition of the offseason in Louisville transfer guard El Ellis.
As a 6-foot-3, 180 pound senior in 2022-23, Ellis started every game and averaged a team-high 17.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game for the Cardinals. He shot 41.0% from the field, 31.9% from three and 81.0% from the free throw line.
The native of Durham, North Carolina, scored double-digits in 28 of Louisville's 32 games last season. He topped 20 points on 13 occasions and he scored 30+ twice. Ellis scored career-high 33 points with five assists at Miami, who made it to the Final Four, on Feb. 11 to become first Louisville player with those stats since Darrell Griffith in the 1980 Final Four.
Ellis did run into head coach Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 21, when he scored 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field and recorded seven turnovers during an 80-54 loss to the Hogs.
As a junior in 2021-22, Ellis averaged 8.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists for Louisville. He shot 39.7% from the field, 36% from three and 69.2% from the charity stripe.
Prior to his time with the Cardinals, Ellis spent two seasons at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Florida. He was named first-team 2021 All-America by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) after averaging 17.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds while connecting on 55-of-132 -pointers (41.7%) and 75.9% of his free throws (85-of-112).
Ellis averaged 14.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds as a freshman at TCC. He connected on 40.3% of his threes (52-of-129) and 84.5% of his shots from the charity stripe. He was named the 2020 Panhandle Conference Player of the Year and an NJCAA second-team All-American as a freshman.
Coming out of Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Ellis scored 2,382 career points and averaged 16.7 points, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals as a senior in high school.
Ellis declared for the NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility on March 22 and he entered the transfer portal on April 6.
Ellis is Arkansas' fifth transfer addition of the offseason, joining Cincinnati transfer forward Jeremiah Davenport, Temple transfer guard Khalif Battle, Washington transfer Keyon Menifield and Houston transfer Tramon Mark. Ellis' commitment puts the Razorbacks at 14 projected scholarship players for 2023-24, which is one over the 13 limit, so more roster movement is expected.
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