South Carolina basketball loses commitment from talented guard Isaac Ellis
South Carolina basketball lost one of its commitments for the Class of 2026.
Guard Isaac Ellis announced on social media Tuesday that he is opening up his recruitment and reclassifying to the Class of 2027.
Ellis, the younger brother of USC guard Eli Ellis, committed to the Gamecocks in June but didn’t sign during the fall signing period from Nov. 12-19. Now, he will be moving back a year in classification.
Four-star Marcus Johnson was USC’s lone signee in the fall period.
Eli Ellis told reporters this summer how much he was looking forward to playing with his brother in college. The two were teammates for most of their high school careers.
Isaac Ellis explained his decision about reclassifying on an Instagram post Tuesday night.
“If I go to college now, I have my freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, senior to make money,” Ellis said. “If I reclass, I have one more year to make money with NIL deals with Overtime Elite then I have my freshman year, sophomore, junior and senior year. And by that time, the five-year rule in the NCAA will be passed. So, I went from four years to be making money to six years.
“Everyone is going to have a lot of hate comments and I understand. ... But I will go into college as a bigger freshman, more skilled and I will be older. College coaches want older players right now.”
The 6-foot-1 Ellis plays at Moravian Prep in North Carolina and with Overtime Elite in Atlanta. He averaged 14.6 points and 4.5 assists last season for OTE’s YNG Dreamerz squad. In eight games so far this season for OTE, Ellis is averaging 30.4 points and 8 assists per game. He scored 56 points in a game on FaZe on Nov. 14.
This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM.
