Louisville Cardinals senior guard El Ellis has announced that he is entering the transfer portal this offseason. This is a blow to the Cardinals’ program after a season that was perhaps the worst one in their program history and one of the worst showings in the 2022-23 college basketball season. Ellis was one of the lone bright spots for the team this season, but it seems he wants to spend his final college basketball season elsewhere. Ellis is able to play next season thanks to the extra year of college eligibility he was granted due to the impact the Coronavirus had on the 2020-21 college basketball season.
On El Ellis in the transfer portal: I’m told his first option is going pro. But if he comes back to college, then after talking to the staff after the season was over, he would have had to accept a different role with the Cardinals than what he had. So, that led to the portal.
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) April 6, 2023
The Louisville guard is currently declared for the 2023 NBA Draft but has left the option to return to college open at this time. If he gets a team interested in drafting him during the draft process, then there is a good chance El Ellis will forgo his last year of college and stay in the 2023 NBA Draft. There is plenty of time between now and when he has to make that decision.
This past season as a senior for the Louisville Cardinals, El Ellis averaged 17.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and one steal per game. He took a serious jump up this season and made his case for the NBA, but only time will tell how the league has viewed him as a prospect. If he does return, plenty of teams will reach out to him for next season.
