How can junior college star El Ellis improve in his transition to Louisville basketball?
Louisville basketball newcomer El Ellis played at 170 pounds last season at Tallahassee Community College where he was the program's first two-time junior college All-American and back-to-back Panhandle Player of the Year. The 6-foot-3 guard said Wednesday he's close to 180 pounds now. His goal is 185. "My goal is just to get stronger, and I have. The weight room was a big priority for me. I took that big challenge this summer, and with the amount of time I've been here, just trying to get better each and every day," Ellis said Wednesday. The quest for improvement was the theme of Ellis's first virtual press conference, where he spoke about improving his physique and aggressiveness on the court and acclimating to all things U of L. Although everything is new - his surroundings, his teammates, the physicality required within the program - things are going well so far, he said. The jump from a JUCO to the ACC is comprised of adjustments, but if anyone has the ability to transition well, it's Ellis, said former Tallahassee coach Zach Settembre. Now an assistant at Coastal Carolina, Settembre told the Courier Journal in May that Ellis has a focused view of where basketball can take him in life. He's also diligent in his follow-through. More: El Ellis starred in junior college. "He's very microscopic in how he views his future, and basketball is the entity in which he's put all his eggs. So I think when you're going to be really successful at anything, you have to be very single-minded. He's a very focused kid, he knows what he wants, and he's willing to work for it," Settembre said. "El's a guy that, because of his ability to be focused on one thing and not be distracted, I think that's what separates him from other guys." After the first week of NCAA-allowed instruction, Cardinals coach Chris Mack said Ellis was one of the team's most athletic players, as well as the most explosive. To amplify his skills and better help the team, Mack wants Ellis to build more strength, take command more efficiently in transition and make better decisions when facing bigger players around the basket. Other areas of his game needed no critique. "He has the ability to really make plays off the bounce based on his quickness and his ability with the ball, and I think he's a good shooter as well," Mack said. We asked. Ellis is coming off a season in which he averaged 17.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds while converting 41.7% of his 3-pointers and 75.9% of his free throws. While primarily a point guard, he believes he'll also log minutes off the ball, "especially with how good the guards we have (are), and just how interchangeable the whole team is." Fellow newcomers Noah Locke and Jarrod West are part of that equation. Locke, the former Florida guard, and West, who starred at Marshall, add experience and shooting to the backcourt and augment the team's pace plans. Their versatility comes in concert with Ellis's, and that collective front will help mitigate the losses of NBA hopefuls David Johnson and Carlik Jones. "Knowing the fact that all of us can play on the ball or off the ball is going to be really good. We don't have to wait in transition, we can get in and go. Just being able to play with guys that can shoot the ball, and just know my game and know their game, it just makes it so much easier for them to get each other in spots and get each other good looks," Ellis said. Ellis said he admires the games of quick guards like John Wall, De'Aaron Fox and Damian Lillard. He takes bits and pieces from multiple NBA players to incorporate into his own skill set. The Durham native, who has three years of eligibility remaining due to the free year from the pandemic, will show U of L fans on the court in a few months. For now, he's relishing the Cardinals' collective work behind the scenes. "Every practice in the gym is competitive and every day, everybody's going at each other trying to get better," Ellis said. "Especially with the way we're playing, it's really exciting. Every day we're just happy to be there at practice." Reach Shannon Russell at slrussell@gannett.com and follow on Twitter @slrussell.