Class of 2021 JUCO PG El Ellis commits to Louisville

The Tallahassee C.C. standout becomes the third commitment for the Louisville men's basketball program in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

The University of Louisville men's basketball program continues to receive good news from the recruiting trail, as Class of 2021 JUCO point guard Elbert "El" Ellis announced Wednesday that he has committed to the Cardinals.

“The staff was so excited when I told them,” Ellis told SI All-American. “They’ve been recruiting me since February so to hear me say that I’m coming they were very excited. I always thought I would be the kid to go on my visit and make my decision on the visit. This pandemic has been crazy. I’m so happy to have it off my shoulders, now I can focus on having a great year at Tallahassee.”

The Durham, NC native had recently included Louisville in his Top 8 schools, and chose them over UConn, NC State, Ole Miss, Iowa State, Oregon, Texas Tech, Georgia and NC Central.

GO CRAZY AHHH GO STUPID🐔 pic.twitter.com/laDiXgrLZS

— 𝓔𝓵𝓑𝓞𝓞𝓖𝓘𝓔 (@elellis3) June 24, 2020

Electing to go the junior college route out of high school, the 6-foot-3 & 175-pound prospect quickly established himself as one of the top JUCO players in the nation.

In his freshman year for Tallahassee Community College (FL), he averaged 14.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds over 33 games played. He also shot 47.9% from the field, 40.3% on three-point shots and 83.9% at the free three line. He was named Freshman & Player of the Year in the Panhandle Conference as a result.

Ellis plans to join the Cardinals after his upcoming sophomore season at Tallahassee Community College, and will have two years of college eligibility left once he makes it to Louisville.

In recent days, the recruiting trail has picked up an incredible amount of stream for head coach Chris Mack and the rest of the his coaching staff. Four-star point guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. committed to Louisville exactly two weeks ago, with four-star center Gabe Wiznitzer doing so on Tuesday. Both are 2021 prospects, but Wiznitzer will reclassify to 2020 and redshirt for the upcoming season.

Louisville currently sports a three-man 2021 recruiting class: Ellis, Pettiford and four-star small forward Bryce Hopkins.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI

Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI and Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp