Much like when Hailey Van Lith opted to enter the transfer portal on the women's basketball side of things, former Louisville men's basketball guard El Ellis stunned the Cardinals fanbase when he decided that he wanted to finish he collegiate career elsewhere. Not only was he viewed by many as a critical piece as it pertains to head coach Kenny Payne's rebuild, but he had previously stated that if he was not starting his professional career after the season, that he would be "coming back to Louisville."
In a recent interview with ESPN Arkansas' Tye Richardson, Ellis - who is now with the Razorbacks after entering the transfer portal back in April and subsequently testing the NBA waters - was asked about what went into his decision to leave UofL after two seasons with the Cardinals.
Ellis revealed that the primary reason for his departure was that Louisville was bringing in Illinois transfer Skyy Clark to run the point after assuming that he would not be coming back, and that he also felt that Payne "wanted a change."
"Really, it's because they had their guards coming in, and I feel like, KP, he wanted a change. I feel like that's something that I needed as well," Ellis told Richardson. "They brought in Skyy Clark, they promised him things. They probably told him that I wasn't coming back, because we all thought I wasn't.
"For me to try to come back, and they promised him things, that was gonna mess things up with their connection. So me just leaving, going to go start fresh, I feel like that's something that was gonna be in my best interest."
A secondary reason for leaving is that Ellis wanted the opportunity to display to NBA scouts and executives that he can be an efficient lead guard. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound combo guard's 17.7 points per game finished third in the ACC while his 4.4 assists per game came in at eighth - getting named an All-ACC honorable mention as a result - but that also came with 3.8 turnovers per game and a 41.0 shooting percentage.
Ellis attributes his incredibly usage rate - stemming from what he believed to be a lack of a significant supporting cast - as the reason he was not as efficient as he could have been. He averaged 36:00 minutes per game, played in 89.9 percent of Louisville's total minutes played and was used on 29.9 percent of their total possessions. These marks ranked 37th, 25th and 47th, respectively, in all of Division I.
"That's something that was really talked about throughout the year, like I wasn't efficient," Ellis said. "I turned the ball over at a high rate. I didn't shoot the ball as well, I didn't finish as well as I wanted to. Just being around like really good players, and not having to be the only option every trip down the court, that's something that I'm glad that I'm not in anymore. I'm not saying it was a terrible situation last year, but it was a lot on me. I feel like that's a lot for any college player. It's a lot. I had the same usage rate as Donovan Mitchell, and he's in the NBA. That's tough. I'm in college still. He's around elite players, so it's different for him.
"Now that I'm around other really good players, other guys that are really confident as well, even when I'm off the ball and in some situations like that, I'm gonna be able to get it back, be able to get into the lane off the ball, be able to get a lot more open catch-and-shoot threes. I feel like I'm gonna be way more efficient, and I'm gonna be able to show how good of a player I really am honestly."
Despite Arkansas bringing in four additional guards through the portal, which will surely cut into his playing time and overall production, Ellis views this as something that will show how efficient he is and boost the Razorbacks' chances of winning.
"It's not going to be a problem at all," he said.
Ellis was one of seven players to enter the portal following Payne's first year at the helm, where Louisville went 4-28 for their worst season in modern history. Only Mike James, J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor are the scholarship returners for year two under Payne, with Hercy Miller coming back, but has been reverted to a walk-on.
As you can imagine, the 2023-24 roster will look radically different from that of last season's. Louisville is set to bring in transfers Skyy Clark, Tre White and Danilo Jovanovich; 2023 prospects Dennis Evans, Trentyn Flowers, Kaleb Glenn, Curtis Williams Jr. and Ty-Laur Johnson; plus JUCO transfer Koron Davis. According to 247Sports, their high school recruiting class comes in at No. 5 nationally, while their transfer class is 27th.
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