Chance Ellis made an important decision when he decided to transfer from Christ The King High School in New York to The Rectory School in Pomfret, Conn. Not only was the 6-foot-4, 205-pound shooting guard changing schools, he was also changing his graduation date.
“I reclassified to 2015,” said Ellis, who was originally in the Class of 2014. “I figured it would give me more time to keep developing my overall game.”
One of the nation’s top underclassmen, Ellis already has one major offer, from Marquette, and is hearing from other top schools like Notre Dame, Arizona, West Virginia, Villanova, Florida, Georgia Tech, Texas and USC. Ellis was excited about receiving an offer from a Big East school earlier this year, but is going to continue working to improve himself.
“It felt good,” he said. “At first, I wasn’t really paying recruiting any mind. I was just focusing on my academics and trying to get better. I’m just trying to keep working on all aspects of my game and my academics.
“I’m working on ball-handling and my mid-range game because I feel like that’s a lost art today.”
The contact from the Irish and the other programs has been mainly through letters, but he’s also started forming relationships with college coaches.
“They tell me to keep working hard and that they’re very interested in me,” he said.
Ellis has a connection to the Irish.
“One of my friends just graduated from there last year, Tyrone Nash,” said Ellis. “He was telling me about it and how he liked it. I remember when he was in high school and made his commitment to Notre Dame and I liked it a lot. He said it’s a great school, a great atmosphere. He said he loved playing the home games there. It’s like another home, he said.”
Ellis has started to identify what the key factors in his recruitment will be.
“The most important factors are probably the system, the environment and can I see themselves there,” he said. “I think the system that would fit my best is probably drive-and-kick or motion.”
Ellis is averaging close to 28 points per game through six games this season (5-1). College coaches like the sharpshooter’s versatility.
“My ability to go inside and also play outside and make my teammates better,” he said when asked. “Everyone knows I can shoot, so when they close out, I go mid-range or I post them up. If they cut, I’ll pass it and get everybody involved.”
Ellis has already been to Villanova, St. John’s and West Virginia and would like to take more visits in the coming months.
“I plan on going out to visit some more schools this summer after the season,” he said.
The recruiting calendar allows high school basketball players to sign National Letters of Intent twice during the year. Other dates to watch out for:
