‘You don’t fake that’: Freshman Eli Ellis brings fire to South Carolina hoops
South Carolina men’s basketball is 3-0 to start the season with a wide variety of contributors. There’s the small flock of returners like Myles Stute. There’s the class of six transfers, including Gamecocks both new and returning for a second try. Then there’s the freshman.
Not freshmen — freshman.
First year forward Hayden Assemian and guard Grant Polk have shown promise through the first three games, but the freshman is a title which so far belongs to Eli Ellis. A 6-foot guard out of Moravian Prep in Hickory, North Carolina, Ellis is second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per game and leads USC with four assists per game.
It’s not the numbers that stick out the most. Little moments — like when Elllis locked up with Southern Mississippi 7-footer Tegra Izay and wouldn’t let go of the ball — show the young guard’s competitive fire.
“It’s my basketball, and I’m going to get it no matter what. Don’t care who has it,” Ellis said of the moment, which he later made his profile picture on Instagram. “He had something I needed.”
Gamecock head coach Lamont Paris said he loved the play and called Ellis a “tremendous competitor.” He added that you can’t encourage those moments from Ellis or any player. It’s just part of his freshman guard’s identity.
“I don’t think anyone can encourage any person to do that. ... You either do that or you don’t,” Paris said. “I love it, but it doesn’t mean you’re a bad player if you don’t do that. But from a competitive standpoint, you don’t fake that. You can’t pretend that’s who you are.”
The effort helps the Gamecocks, who are slightly undersized relative to other SEC programs, on the glass. Ellis is fourth on the team with 3.7 rebounds per game.
“They’re not jumping the highest, right? Those are the guys that wanted the worst. They positioned themselves to be able to snag the ball, and then they go get the ball,” Paris said. “I think we need more guys that that think that way.”
Ellis said he feels like the ball has a knack for landing in his hands, but said he’s proof you can rebound at any size.
“A lot of the times the ball just comes to me. Sometimes, I go get it. I get lucky sometimes, and then it shows up on a stat sheet,” he said. “If I can get five, six, whatever rebounds a game, then really anybody can, and it just shows that doesn’t matter how tall you are, how athletic, whatever that you can produce on this level.”
Where does the tenacity come from? According to Ellis, an early growth spurt and an unfulfilled desire to play with the ball in his hands.
“In fifth grade, I was like, 5-8, so I was a center,” he said. “I wasn’t getting the ball on the team I was playing for. And (my dad) was like, ‘You know the best way to get a pass, right?’ I was like, “Get open?’ He was like, ‘No rebound.’ That’s the first pass to a fast break or anything. So you get the rebound, you get to shoot the ball.”
Wherever it comes from, USC will need Ellis’ production and effort to keep up as the Gamecocks head to West Virginia next week for a pair of top-100 NET matchups against Butler and Northwestern at the Greenbrier Tip-Off.
“We’re going to be able to really do a lot of things this year, and I think after this weekend, we’re going to show that we belong on that stage,” Ellis said.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
