5 years into his NFL career, Bruce Ellington remains untested on a basketball court
Just check my stats. I played in college.
Bruce Ellington is coming off his fifth NFL season. He’s played with four different teams, most recently the Detroit Lions. Since leaving South Carolina, he remains undefeated on a basketball court.
Check that. He remains untested.
“I haven’t taken anybody 1 on 1,” Ellington said. “Me and Johnathan Joseph get in the gym a lot, we play a little bit. But nobody plays me 1 on 1. I don’t think they want that challenge.”
As a Gamecock guard from 2010-14, Ellington averaged 11.2 points a game.
“All of them swear they can play basketball,” he said with a grin about NFL players, “but I tell them, ‘Just check my stats. I played in college.’ ”
Ellington has a unique place in USC history. He made 106 catches and scored 17 touchdowns for three Carolina teams that won 11 games apiece. At the same time, he was contributing to both Darrin Horn and Frank Martin’s teams.
Ellington this month was back in Columbia for the basketball program’s “Legends Weekend.”
“It means a lot because I was one of the guys who was here when (Martin) first got here,” Ellington told reporters. “So to see the things that he’s doing, the changes that he’s making and getting the (wins), it’s always good.”
Martin inherited Ellington as part of his first USC team in 2012-13. Four years later, Ellington watched from the stands in Glendale, Arizona, as the Gamecocks participated in their only Final Four in school history.
“Coming in, he’s a different coach than Coach Horn,” Ellington said of Martin. “They both have that attitude about him, but he actually shows it in a game. He gets a little violent. But as a player, I loved that. I love that he gets after me. After I do something wrong, he gets after me. If I do something right, he still might get after me. It’s the fact that he cares, you know?
“And to see the things going on around here, to see him winning, to see him make it to the Final Four, just to see all that is amazing.”
Martin recently passed Eddie Fogler for fourth-most wins in Carolina history. Steve Spurrier, Ellington’s football coach, left USC as the school’s all-time winningest.
“Just being here as a Gamecock and playing football and basketball, the fans, the coaches, everybody, even y’all, it was a great time,” said the Moncks Corner native. “I had an amazing time here.”
Ellington said his favorite basketball memory was his game-winning layup that beat Alabama in 2012.
His football moments are still carrying on. The 5-foot-9, 200-pounder made a career-best 31 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown last season for the Lions and Houston Texans before being shut down for a hamstring injury.
“I’m just hoping to have a great offseason,” Ellington said, “and get my body right.”
