Louisville transfer El Ellis commits to Arkansas while still actively going through the NBA Draft process

The Arkansas Razorbacks are once again extremely active in the transfer portal and they might have just landed a top player for next season. Louisville transfer, El Ellis has one year of eligibility remaining and entered the transfer portal on 4/6. He also declared for the draft late last month, but he may be staying in the NCAA for one more year. It was announced today that he has committed to Arkansas for next season. 

Ellis was the leading scorer last season for the Louisville Cardinals after spending two years with the program. He entered the transfer portal earlier this month and quickly committed to Arkansas for the 2023-24 season. This makes him the third former Cardinal to enter the transfer portal after Louisville went an embarrassing 4-28 in 2022-23.

Head coach Eric Musselman is surely hoping that Ellis will return for his final year of eligibility to come to play for the Razorbacks.

NEWS: Louisville transfer El Ellis has committed to Arkansas, he tells @On3sports.

Averaged 17.7 PPG and 4.4 APG this season.

Story w/ quotes: https://t.co/v12fkXYIwM pic.twitter.com/TrtyHDBjaD

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 17, 2023

El Ellis has committed to Arkansas for the 2023-24 season

Ellis is a six-foot-three guard out of Durham, NC, and is a four-star prospect. Last season he played and started in all 32 games and averaged (17.7) points, (2.6) rebounds, (4.4) assists, and (1.0) steals. He played in (.899) of Louisville’s possible minutes this past season and was an All-ACC honorable mention.

The 23-year-old shouldered a large load offensively for the Cardinals last season and had one of the nation’s highest usage rates at (.299) percent. His large usage rate impacted how effective he was at times, but he still managed to have shooting splits of 41/31/81 this past season.

Ellis’ (17.7) points per game were the third-most per game of any player in the ACC in 2022-23. He scored double-digit points in 28 of Louisville’s 32 games last season and had at least 20 points 13 times. The senior guard had a career-high 33 points vs Miami, a team that made the Final Four this season. Arkansas is hoping that he stays in the NCAA and plays his last year with the Razorbacks.