Louisville basketball: What each new signee brings to the Cardinals
The Louisville basketball team had four prospects sign their letters of intent to play for the Cardinals in 2021.
On Wednesday, Louisville basketball and Chris Mack looked on as four new Cardinals officially put pen to paper and committed themselves to Louisville basketball for the next one-to-four years.
All four of Louisville’s formerly “committed” prospects submitted their national letters of intent on the first day that the early signing period opened. I must admit, I do enjoy a drama-less national signing day.
If they had chosen, each of the prospects could have signed at any point from November 11 to November 18. That’s how long the window is for the early signing period. But, with all four signatures in, the Cards do not have to worry about a surprising change of events.
The Cardinals’ twitter page put out the news via some sweet videos inspired by the “NBA 2k21” video game.
https://twitter.com/LouisvilleMBB/status/1326524987994337280?s=20
Louisville’s class currently is ranked 20th nationally for the class of 2021 and fourth in the ACC, according to the 247 Sports team rankings.
These four newly minted Cardinals will be expected to come in and contribute as early as next year. Although, playing time could be limited with so many players coming back after the NCAA announced that all Division I athletes will be receiving an extra year of competition.
This means that a grad transfer like Carlik Jones or Charles Minlend could have two years to play (instead of one) at Louisville if they so choose.
What will each new Cardinal bring to the squad when they make it to the ‘Ville?
Now that it is official, we can really dig into how each piece of the recruiting class will fit into the team when they arrive. While the recruiting rankings do not show five stars across the board, I promise there is a ton of upside and talent to make this class a great one for U of L hoops.
With that said, let’s take a look at the new Cardinals.
G El Ellis, Tallahassee Community College
Bio
Ellis is a 6’3″ 170-pound junior college player from Durham, North Carolina. He is a four star prospect and the number one ranked junior college player in the class of 2021 by the 247 Sports Composite Rankings.
Ellis, as a freshman at Tallahassee CC, was able to put up 14.3 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game in the 2019-20 season. He also shot 47.9 percent from the field and 40.3 (!) percent from three.
Those numbers were good enough to earn him NJCAA second-team All American honors as a freshman. Ellis is a talented young man.
The NJCAA also has given their athletes another season of eligibility which means that Ellis’s sophomore season will not count towards his athletic tenure. Thus, Ellis will have three years to play at Louisville.
What he can provide the team
Ellis can be the primary ball handler on the Louisville team. He has a tight handle and great ability to break defenders down with hesitations and size ups. Ellis is fast off the bounce and will blow by defenders that are out of position. He’s a fantastic athlete overall.
At 6’3″, Ellis’s high release point on his shot provides him room to shoot over defenders consistently. He likes to dribble left and pull up from three. But, he is also a natural at moving off the ball to find a soft spot in the defense to catch and shoot. He’s deadly from beyond the arc if you leave him open.
Ellis also is a fantastic slasher. His ability to keep bigger defenders on his off ball hip allows him to scoop layups off the glass without any interruption from bigs helping over in the paint. He’s also really good at going into the body of bigs to draw contact at the rim.
Ellis has a great basketball IQ as a passer. He can sense when double teams are coming and quickly finds the open teammate on the court that the double team left open for easy buckets. Ellis thrives off of screens and dribble penetration as a passer. As soon as an opposing team makes a mistake of sinking inside or doubling, he’s very good at finding an open man on the perimeter.
If you want El Ellis to play point guard, he can. If you want him to come in as an off-the-ball guard, he absolutely can. Ellis can shoot the lights out and take control of a game. He is the number one ranked 2021 junior college player for a reason and Louisville is very lucky to have him coming in.
Since Ellis has played a year of college basketball, he will be more ready to contribute than others may be and will certainly benefit from having three years in the program instead of two. That is absolutely huge for a junior college player.
Look for Ellis to be one of Louisville’s most gifted athletes and scorers on the team from day one.