2021 Recruiting: El Ellis JUCO update 5/21/20

[husky99]

I'm not taking this with a grain of salt and recruiting is not fluid.

Ha.. it is always

 

[husky429]

If anyone else needs to kill time with some full games instead of the 10 min highlights:

Part 1 and 2 of a full game from Feb 15:


Tallahassee Community College vs Northwest Florida State College - Men's Basketball - Part 2 15Feb20

Same team from Jan 11

Tallahassee vs Northwest Florida State College - Men's Basketball - January 4, 2020 - Panhandle

For the Jan 11 game...

8 PTS
5 REB
4 AST

2 TO
0 STL
0 BLK

1/4 FG
2/6 3FG
0/0 FT

• Actually a MUCH better passer than I would have expected. Does really well penetrating the defense and kicking/dumping the ball from the drop zone. Made the extra pass to find open shooters. Didn’t let the ball stick in his hands too much. He could have excellent assist #s here and a Gaffney-like positive effect on the pace of the offense. Really moves the ball well. His teammates just brick shots and TO the ball on good passes a lot. I’ll eat crow on this--from the highlights I expected a more selfish player than I’m seeing here.
• Needs some help with his defensive fundamentals. He gets in a stance and totally loses it as soon as his man takes a dribble in the half court. Wonky half-assed closeouts at times instead of getting into the body… needs to stop throwing both hands up on them. Might be a buy-in thing, idk.
• I wouldn’t expect him to be a particularly good finisher. He seems to be able to go off 1 or 2 feet which is a nice piece, but he doesn’t look for it much even against JUCO comp. Too small to be effective right now and doesn’t know little guy finishing moves (floater, reverse, inside hand etc.) Definitely more of a drive and kick/3 pt shooter. Barely even looks to drive the ball for a score in this game.
• He has a pretty talented team. A lot of size and pretty good athleticism. Not as skilled as you’d see at a Montverde-type school or something, but he’s getting way better practice experience than recruits at the vast majority of HS’s are.

 

[bendm]

• Actually a MUCH better passer than I would have expected.
• Needs some help with his defensive fundamentals.
• I wouldn’t expect him to be a particularly good finisher.

would he be able to replace bouk in the starting lineup in 2021? that's kinda what i was expecting for an incoming junior with his hype. is he a Combo Guard?

 

[husky429]

doesnt sound like he would be able to replace bouk in the starting lineup in 2021, which is kinda what i was expecting for an incoming junior with his hype. is he a Combo Guard?

Definitely a point this game. And looks more 6'1 than 6'3 to me. Coming in I thought he'd play more like a scoring guard, but at least this game he looked like he wanted to run the offense and break the press primarily

Nothing screams Bouk replacement to me. A big guard that can get to the rack and draw fouls will need to be a priority for the staff I'd imagine.

 

[bendm]

Definitely a point this game. And looks more 6'1 than 6'3 to me. Coming in I thought he'd play more like a scoring guard, but at least this game he looked like he wanted to run the offense and break the press primarily

Nothing screams Bouk replacement to me. A big guard that can get to the rack and draw fouls will need to be a priority for the staff I'd imagine.

so then it seems like it's one of ellis/diggins/blakes at PG and then we gotta hope for one of keels/longingo/dawkins at SG.
surprised that a junior like ellis might want to come in as a 3rd string PG behind cole and gaffney

 

[Kenny11]

so then it seems like it's one of ellis/diggins/blakes at PG and then we gotta hope for one of keels/longingo/dawkins at SG.
surprised that a junior like ellis might want to come in as a 3rd string PG behind cole and gaffney

I imagine the pitch is that two of the three pg’s will always be in the game at the same time...and this doesn’t look like a 3rd string player no matter who is on our roster.

 

[mauconnfan]

so then it seems like it's one of ellis/diggins/blakes at PG and then we gotta hope for one of keels/longingo/dawkins at SG.
surprised that a junior like ellis might want to come in as a 3rd string PG behind cole and gaffney

Obviously just video but the kid has some serious game and creativity to boot. Reminds me of a little more athletic Earl Kelley they way he finds a way to score when he gets in the trees. Gaffney will need to improve his offense to keep this guy on the bench. Hope he does make it tough though.

 

[uconngb]

Obviously just video but the kid has some serious game and creativity to boot. Reminds me of a little more athletic Earl Kelley they way he finds a way to score when he gets in the trees. Gaffney will need to improve his offense to keep this guy on the bench. Hope he does make it tough though.

A little more athletic Earl Kelley would be Dwayne Wade. Gimme!!

 

[mauconnfan]

A little more athletic Earl Kelley would be Dwayne Wade. Gimme!!

Kids got some nice hops which Earl didn’t have. Earl was special I would be happy with just him don’t necessarily need Dwayne. But l like your analogy.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Definitely a point this game. And looks more 6'1 than 6'3 to me. Coming in I thought he'd play more like a scoring guard, but at least this game he looked like he wanted to run the offense and break the press primarily

Nothing screams Bouk replacement to me. A big guard that can get to the rack and draw fouls will need to be a priority for the staff I'd imagine.

Wouldn't that be Tyrese Martin?

 

[husky429]

Wouldn't that be Tyrese Martin?

He's more likely to play PF than SG for us. I see him as a SF primarily, but playing at the 4 when we go small. Not a good enough shooter or ballhandler.

A guy Brendan Adams size that can draw fouls at a high level and shooot the 3 would be ideal in my opinion.

 

[UconnU]

Definitely a point this game. And looks more 6'1 than 6'3 to me. Coming in I thought he'd play more like a scoring guard, but at least this game he looked like he wanted to run the offense and break the press primarily

Nothing screams Bouk replacement to me. A big guard that can get to the rack and draw fouls will need to be a priority for the staff I'd imagine.

Closer to 6’1 for sure. Reminds me a lot of Boat.

 

[RMoore1999]

Obviously just video but the kid has some serious game and creativity to boot. Reminds me of a little more athletic Earl Kelley they way he finds a way to score when he gets in the trees. Gaffney will need to improve his offense to keep this guy on the bench. Hope he does make it tough though.

Appreciate the Kelley comp, and not saying Ellis necessarily reminds me of this guy, but isn't it surprising how rarely scoring current day PG's are compared to Chris Smith? I get that he's ancient at this point, but talk about a UConn great. Underestimated athleticism, great shooter. I'm not sure there's a more underappreciated star from the Calhoun era.

 

[mauconnfan]

Appreciate the Kelley comp, and not saying Ellis necessarily reminds me of this guy, but isn't it surprising how rarely scoring current day PG's are compared to Chris Smith? I get that he's ancient at this point, but talk about a UConn great. Underestimated athleticism, great shooter. I'm not sure there's a more underappreciated star from the Calhoun era.

Agree well stated. Potentially JCs most under appreciated recruit (in terms of importance/timing) too?

 

[UCLJ0211]

Agree well stated. Potentially JCs most under appreciated recruit (in terms of importance/timing) too?

To this day he’s still the all-time scoring leader at UConn as well.

 

[Umami Zen]

Appreciate the Kelley comp, and not saying Ellis necessarily reminds me of this guy, but isn't it surprising how rarely scoring current day PG's are compared to Chris Smith? I get that he's ancient at this point, but talk about a UConn great. Underestimated athleticism, great shooter. I'm not sure there's a more underappreciated star from the Calhoun era.

Was always fun seeing Smitty one-on-one..Isolated vs a taller defender.. Shakin' and bakin' to the hoop or for a jumper..After a crossover move.. Wasn't as fast as Kemba..But had a similar bag of tricks..

 

[djct1999]

Appreciate the Kelley comp, and not saying Ellis necessarily reminds me of this guy, but isn't it surprising how rarely scoring current day PG's are compared to Chris Smith? I get that he's ancient at this point, but talk about a UConn great. Underestimated athleticism, great shooter. I'm not sure there's a more underappreciated star from the Calhoun era.

Maybe he is under appreciated by the younger fan base. He certainly is not under appreciated by Calhoun or any fan from the mid to late 80s on. JC is on record saying that Chris Smith was the biggest "get" in the program's history. He was the first big fish that we recruited against the big boys and won.

 

[Watchdog]

Agree well stated. Potentially JCs most under appreciated recruit (in terms of importance/timing) too?

Amen. JC repeatedly recognized Chris Smith's importance not only as a player but as someone who put the spotlight on UConn as a place for great players to attend.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Iowa State lacks the overall talent level of UConn and they have similar road blocks to PT for Ellis. In 21/22, Rasir Bolton will be their no-doubt lead guard and point Tre Jackson will be a junior. Replace Bolton with Cole and Jackson with Gaffney and you get basically the same situation in Storrs.

In summary, Iowa State is not an obviously better landing spot for a guard looking for immediate PT.

 

[bendm]

Iowa State lacks the overall talent level of UConn and they have similar road blocks to PT for Ellis. In 21/22, Rasir Bolton will be their no-doubt lead guard and point Tre Jackson will be a junior. Replace Bolton with Cole and Jackson with Gaffney and you get basically the same situation in Storrs.

In summary, Iowa State is not an obviously better landing spot for a guard looking for immediate PT.

this is pretty much why i think jaylen blakes makes the most sense at PG. Cole is running the point for the next 2 years and then Gaffney should as a senior.

 

[UconnU]

this is pretty much why i think jaylen blakes makes the most sense at PG. Cole is running the point for the next 2 years and then Gaffney should as a senior.

Blakes is MUCH more of a combo/undersized 2 than a PG. I view him as a Vital type guard, not a primary ball handler.

 

[bendm]

Blakes is MUCH more of a combo/undersized 2 than a PG. I view him as a Vital type guard, not a primary ball handler.

then that would make Diggins the only pure PG hurley is heavily recruiting? i'm confused... Hurley's been very vocal about going after BIG athletic shooting guards to replace Bouk, like Keels/Dawkins/Longino, so how does Blakes (or Ellis for that matter) fit into that plan?

Blakes and Ellis seem similar on the surface- CGs that averaged ~5 APG last year and are around 6'1-6'2.

But if Blakes is similar to Vital then hopefully Ellis is similar to Boatright

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Posted today .

 

[Peacefrog]

Posted today .

Well, that looks encouraging.

 

[UconnU]

Posted today .

Looks like an edit our recruiting team had made for him. We seem to be all-in.