Arkansas basketball on Monday received a transfer commitment from another intriguing back-court playmaker.
El Ellis, a 6-3 guard who spent the last two seasons playing for scuffling and down Louisville teams under Chris Mack and Kenny Payne, stated plans to join the Razorbacks for the 2023-24 season. He is the fifth spring-time commitment for the Razorbacks.
Ellis joins guard Keyon Menifield (Washington), wing Tramon Mark (Houston), guard Khalif Battle (Temple) and wing Jeremiah Davenport (Cincinnati). On3.com considers Ellis a 4-star transfer.
In two seasons with the Cardinals, Ellis averaged 13.2 points on 40.5% from the field and 33.4% beyond the arc. He played the previous two seasons at Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College, where he became the program’s first two-time All-American.
For intel on Ellis, I reached out to Brooks Holton, who covers Louisville basketball for The Courier Journal in Kentucky.
“I enjoyed covering El,” Holton wrote in an email. “A lot was asked of him as the point guard of a team that went 4-28, and he handled it with professionalism and candor. He admitted to getting 'lost in games' and allowing his frustrations to spill onto the court during an 0-9 start to the season.
“Then he said: ‘I had to grow up on my own. I had to look in the mirror at myself and just stay level-headed, control what I can control and go out there and play hard each and every night.’”
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Ellis, the clear go-to player for the Cardinals last season, put up 17.7 points on 14.4 field goal attempts per game and 4.4 assists against 3.8 turnovers. But the metrics tell the story of how Ellis-dependent Louisville was in 2022-23.
According to KenPom data, he attempted 30.1% of the team's shots when on the floor and assisted on 30.8% of scores when in the lineup. He played 89.9% of the available minutes.
Surrounded by superior talent next season, Ellis should have a greater chance to play his true game and do so minus the weight of a program on his shoulders, though expectations will be sky high for Arkansas.
Offensively, he matched a team high or led the Cardinals in scoring 21 times last season, including 10 of the first 15 games. Ellis had 30 points and 10 assists in Louisville’s first win over Western Kentucky.
Other impressive outings include 23 points vs. rival Kentucky, 20 points and 9 assists vs. Syracuse, 22 points vs. North Carolina, 33 points and 5 assists vs. Miami, 21 points vs. Virginia, 28 points in a win vs. Clemson, and 21 points and 7 assists at Duke. Following the loss to the Blue Devils, Payne raved about Ellis’ stature within the program.
“He came out and he willed us to the lead in the beginning of this game. His impact on his team is immense,” Payne added. “We go with him, in essence, in everything we do. That's in walkthroughs, that's in practice, that's in games. His spirit, it's a tough thing to be a young man and be a spirit child, because that's a dangerous position to be in. You decide to take a play or a week or a day or something off, it affects a whole lot of other people. He's trying.
“He's getting better every day. I'm proud of him. He's gotten better. He works hard. He wants to win. He plays to win. He's doing what I'm asking him to do. I just need some other guys to step up with him and fight with him.”
Getting downhill and attacking the rim is a strength of Ellis’ game, Holton noted, and he can be creative in generating quality attempts for others.
“He can finish through traffic and whip passes to open teammates who are setting up in the corner for catch-and-shoot threes while flying out of bounds,” Holton wrote. “He’s got great touch from beyond the arc, too.”
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A video posted to the College Basketball Scouting YouTube channel shows Ellis finished 54% of his rim attempts last season. Beyond the arc, he knocked down threes at a 36% clip from the right wing and 31% on the left.
The video also shows he made 18 threes at least 25 feet from the rim, so he has big-time range, and he scored at a 1.06 point-per-possession rate (76th percentile) in spot-up situations. As a handler in ball-screen actions, he placed in the 65th percentile (0.82 PPP).
There are weaknesses to Ellis’ game, though some could be chalked up to circumstance. He turned the ball over 120 times – 4 or more in 16 games – and had 7, his second-most turnovers in a game last season, in Louisville’s loss to Arkansas at the Maui Invitational.
It does appear that he grew a bit as a ball handler as the year progressed. Of his 10 games with 5-plus turnovers, 9 came in November and December.
“Turnovers were an issue throughout the season, especially early on,” Holton wrote. “He cut back on them, however, and over the final 18 games tallied 82 assists against just 54 turnovers.”
Defense was said to be another issue for the guard. Payne challenged Ellis late last season to “guard people the way they’re guarding you.” And former Cardinals assistant coach Mike Pegues gave him consistent grief over the defensive end of the floor in 2021-22, according to The Courier Journal.
Among Pegues’ critiques: be in position in ball-screen coverages; chase cutters who move without the ball and close space on the catch; close out on jump shooters with urgency; and be better defending the ball.
“It’s amazing how quick El can be on offense and equally as slow on defense,” Pegues once joked on his radio show, per The Courier Journal. “I have no idea what happens to his feet on defense.”
Ellis is capable defensively, evidenced by four steals against Kentucky last season and three against Syracuse and Clemson. He also had a pair of takeaways at Duke and at Virginia.
As we have learned, defense is a non-negotiable for Eric Musselman. His teams have finished in the top 20 nationally in defensive efficiency the last three seasons. Louisville was 312th in 2022-23.
Should the guard make strides on that end, he will be in position for many meaningful minutes, because the offensive repertoire is there and plenty enticing.