El Ellis talks future plans

With Louisville’s 2022-23 season mercifully nearing an end, the main topic of discussion surrounding the Cardinals has already switched to next season and how much of a step forward Kenny Payne can take in year two.

At the heart of that discussion is the status of El Ellis, the ACC’s second-leading scorer at 18.0 ppg. Ellis will go through Senior Night festivities on Tuesday, but does technically have one more year of eligibility remaining.

Ellis was asked about his future plans on Monday, and didn’t rule out the possibility of returning to Louisville for a third and final season. But first, he wants to see what his professional options might be.

“Yeah, my mindset right now is to test the waters,” Ellis said. “I was going to see how everything goes, and then I was going to make my decision on if I am coming back based on that.”

Could the transfer portal be an option for Ellis? Apparently not.

“I just don’t feel comfortable going to another school,” he said. “I feel like Louisville is the place for me. Even through everything that’s been going on - the coaching change, the records, and everything like that - I feel like if I’m going to come back and go to college again, then I’m going to come back to Louisville because I didn’t finish the way I wanted to.

“I want to leave as a winner, a that’s something I didn’t get to do. If college is going to be the next option for me, then I’m coming back to Louisville.”

There it is. It’s turning pro or coming back to U of L for Ellis.

The dominos will start falling in about a week.