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El Ellis: The Panhandle Conference Player of the Year Commits to Louisville

By Hoopmia, 06/25/20, 9:15PM EDT

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The Panhandle player of the year and NJCAA  Second Team All-American member, Elbert Ellis, is taking his talent to the ACC and suiting up for the Louisville Cardinals next season.  The Juco standout averaged 14.3 ppg (shooting 47.1% from the field), 4.5 apg, and 3.9 rpg, and 1.1 spg on his way to  the Panhandle Conference title while winning the league's Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year honors before the coronavirus pandemic cut TCC's postseason short.

Ellis will be joining the cardinal's after his second season at TCC in hopes to take home the the NJCAA National Championship trophy next season.  Although Ellis was not able to attend the University of Louisville during his recruitment process, he established a great relationship with Coach Chris Mack and Coach Dino Gaudio, and understands the competitive platform he will be competing on.  "If your coaching staff trusts you, you can go far," Ellis said. "I feel like having a great coaching staff that trusts me was going to be big, and they believe in me."

Ellis said, "Louisville was a perfect situation for me. The opportunity to play right away and be a leader and having a chance to win a national championship — Louisville was perfect, It was a tough decision, but I had to do what was best for me, and I feel like I made the best decision of my life, honestly."

 At 14.3 points per game, El was the leading scorer on a Tallahassee team last season that sent nine players to Division I programs. Ellis will be joining fellow Durham, NC native and friend Bobby Pettiford for Louisville's 2021 recruiting class.