Eli Ellis making strong first impression at USC with ‘extremely competitive’ style
With a remade roster, the South Carolina men’s basketball team is going to need production from some of its 11 new players. One of those contributors figures to be Eli Ellis.
The highly touted freshman guard has arrived in Columbia for summer workouts with the rest of his USC teammates. While he doesn’t have a five-star ranking like former Gamecock GG Jackson, he is one of the most well-known Gamecock recruits (more than 2 million followers on TikTok and Instagram combined) to ever play at South Carolina.
Under Armour signed Ellis to an NIL deal, and he appeared in the company’s “Let Them Talk” campaign commercial. The commercial is framed around the doubts some have of Ellis’ game and his social media presence.
The reviews for Ellis’ performance on the court have been good, according to coach Lamont Paris.
“So far I have seen Eli doing Eli stuff. And I say that all in the best ways. He is extremely competitive, incredibly competitive,” Paris said Monday during a press conference. “That is probably the understatement of the year. He does that in a way and channels that in a manner that lets him be a more productive player because of it. He is a hard worker and for a young guy he is really confident in what he does.”
247Sports’ Travis Branham thinks Ellis will have a big impact for the Gamecocks and ranks him in the top 10 of four-star freshmen who could make immediate impacts in the 2025-26 season.
Ellis likely will be the top back-up for point guard Meechie Johnson, who returned to the Gamecocks this season after playing last year at Ohio State.
“Ellis has terrific instincts on the court, and he can really pass it off the dribble. He creates out of ball-screens, drills shots from three, and has a knack for hitting tough shots from all over the court,” Branham wrote. “Ellis plays with no fear on the court. And despite his physical limitations, he can bring some instant offense to South Carolina next year.”
Ellis, who is listed as 6-feet tall, put up big numbers playing at Moravian Prep (North Carolina) and for the Young Dreamerz team in the Overtime Elite League the past two seasons. Last year, he averaged 32.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and shot 34.1% from three-point range in winning his second OTE MVP award.
Offensively, Ellis is quick off the dribble and has no problem in creating shots for himself. But Paris also has been impressed with other things the freshman has done during the first two weeks of workouts.
“He is a very unselfish guy also,” Paris said of Ellis. “He is confident in his abilities, so just trying to get him to learn what we are looking for in trying to generate offense for others. As a by-product, there will be plenty of offense for him.”
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