How Eli Ellis plans to balance basketball, social media at South Carolina
Eli Ellis will be scaling it back a bit on social media as he gets ready for his first season with the South Carolina men’s basketball team.
Ellis said Wednesday that you won’t see as much from him on his Instagram, TikTok and YouTube pages as he prepares for his highly anticipated freshman season with the Gamecocks.
“I did take a step back on social media,” Ellis said. “I will continue to post but it isn’t my main thing right now. I’m focused on basketball. At the end of the day, I want to create a buzz around campus showing people I am having fun and am doing what I love. I want to showcase South Carolina, introduce new guys. But also, it is basketball. I have taken a complete step back on that. I am focused on what I have to do on and off the court.”
Ellis and nine other freshmen and transfer newcomers met with reporters for the first time Wednesday since arriving in Columbia this summer. This is the final week of the Gamecocks’ summer workouts before getting a short break and returning for classes next month.
Ellis is easily the most notable player on the roster from a national perspective. He played the last two years at the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta, where he was a two-time league MVP. OTE’s games were streamed on Amazon Prime and the platform followed the team in its season-long documentary.
The 18-year-old boasts more than 2 million followers on social media platforms, with 1.4 million on TikTok, 683,000 on Instagram and more than 51,000 on YouTube.
Ellis’ notoriety and social media presence earned an NIL deal with Under Armour and he was featured in the “Let Them Talk” campaign commercial and works with Fashion Nova clothing company.
Ellis also earned a spot in the Jimmy Donaldson, aka “MrBeast,” influencer all-star game this summer. Donaldson has 417 million subscribers on YouTube, the most of anyone on the channel. Instagram reached out to Ellis for a collaboration with him at this year’s NBA Finals, where he critiqued players’ wardrobes as they entered the arena.
“It was insane,” Ellis said of the NBA Finals experience.
Ellis said the camera crew he works with will make trips to Columbia every few weeks to create content but usually will only take up a few hours of his time. He posted a “Day in the Life at USC” video on Instagram this week and got a good response.
But that won’t be his main priority as he looks to be a big contributor in his first season. He said he has been working hard on his defense, which he admits he wasn’t held accountable for during his high school career.
Ellis also said he is focused on being more than a scorer at the point guard spot. Last year, he averaged 32.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and shot 34.1% from three-point range at Overtime Elite.
Ellis (6-foot, 192) ranked as the No. 99 overall recruit and No. 14 point guard nationally in the Class of 2025, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
“I have been guarding my man and I have gotten so much better from that. And then just making the right decisions, making the read as point guard. You aren’t going to be able to shoot it all the time at the college level, nor do I want to,” Ellis said. “I want to find guys and make sure the offense works and make sure the defense works. Those two things have been going together well lately.”
USC head coach Lamont Paris raved about Ellis’ confidence and competitiveness when he talked with reporters last month. Senior guard Meechie Johnson, who is back for his second stint with the Gamecocks, backed up his coach’s words on Wednesday.
“Just a dawg, competitiveness. His approach to the game,” Johnson said of Ellis. “He is a fierce competitor and he feels like he is the best player on the court. Why wouldn’t you want to have that kind of teammate like that and have that confidence? Confidence is one of the best things you can have as a player. That is something he ultimately got.”
Ellis also knows what it is like to be in the spotlight and having the attention on him. He also tries to play with a chip or edge as he knows some aren’t sure how he will perform in one of the best conferences in the country.
“I have been in the spotlight since I was in the seventh grade and played in front of thousands of people. Nothing like Colonial Life (USC’s home arena), but I understand how pressure feels and what it looks like and what to expect going into a game when no one wants to see you win,” Ellis said. “No one thinks we are going to win (at USC) and that has been my whole life.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 3:57 PM.
