UNC Basketball: Should Tar Heels revisit former target Boogie Ellis?

Former UNC basketball target Boogie Ellis is back on the market, announcing on Wednesday evening that he’s leaving the Memphis Tigers and entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Memphis Tigers sophomore guard Boogie Ellis entered the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday, joining the more than 1,000 Division I college basketball players to do so this spring.

Ellis, who scored a game-high 23 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds in the Tigers’ 77-64 NIT Championship victory over Mississippi State on Sunday, initially committed to Duke in November of 2019, picking the Blue Devils over Memphis, North Carolina, San Diego State and Southern Cal. Months later, Ellis backed out of his commitment to the Blue Devils, and was released from his Letter of Intent.

"“I would like to thank Duke University and the coaching staff for recruiting me,” Ellis said in May of 2020. “However, after much thought and discussion with my family, I have decided to ask for my release and re-open my recruitment.”"

Ellis never got into specifics about why he opted against playing at Duke and chose to reopen his recruitment, but with Tre Jones returning to the Blue Devils in 2019 rather than turning pro, and sensational shooting guard Cassius Stanley joining the fold the very same season, the Duke back court would have been very crowded. Ellis wouldn’t have won the starting point guard position over Jones, and Stanley could very well have occupied the starting position alongside Jones, leaving Ellis on the bench for much of his freshman season.

"“I’m just looking for the best opportunity to play point guard,” Ellis said. “Everybody in the country knows I can score the ball, it’s about if I can run a team and get people open. Me and my family thought it was best that I reopen my recruitment so that I could go to the best place that was going to allow me to do that.”"

After joining the Tigers in 2019, Ellis started 27-of-31 games for the Tigers during his freshman campaign, averaging eight points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals for the season. He did struggle shooting the ball with any level of consistency that season, hitting just 33 percent of his shots from the floor, and 32.4 percent of his attempts from three-point range.

In 2020-21, Ellis got fewer starts and averaged about a minute less per game, but he did show more efficiency on the court than he did the prior season. He averaged 10.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals, while shooting 40.1 percent overall and 38.6 percent from long-range.

Given his pretty pedestrian offensive numbers, and his fairly average size, would it really behoove the Tar Heels to make a run at Ellis? Not only that, but with Ellis’ proclivity for avoiding competition to earn a starting role, would he fit with a UNC squad that already has a pair of rising guards and likely starters in Caleb Love and Kerwin Walton? In addition to that, Roy Williams also has R.J. Davis and Anthony Harris on his bench, both of which could easily take minutes from Ellis next season.

If the Tar Heels want to take a flier on Ellis, fine. But I wouldn’t put a lot of time into a player who put up similar numbers to a handful of other Tar Heels last season — with the exception of his three-point accuracy — and seems to hop around from program to program when the fit isn’t exactly right.

Keeping It Heel will continue to follow the activities of the UNC basketball program and the every-changing NCAA transfer portal.