Alvin Ellis is staying in the Big Ten.
The 6-4 senior from De La Salle will be heading to Michigan State to play for coach Tom Izzo next year.
Prior to putting together a terrific senior season, Ellis signed with Minnesota last fall. However, the two parted ways ways following the firing of coach Tubby Smith. Now he’s headed to Big Ten power Michigan State.
“Michigan State offered some of the same things we thought we found at Minnesota, which is having good men in place,” said Ellis’ father, Alvin Ellis, Sr. “It was important for us that he be around good men, great role models. That’s what we found in Michigan State.”
Ellis, who scored over 1,000 career points, averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals a game in helping the Meteors to a 17-8 record this past season.
“We had some opportunities and looked at them all,” Ellis, Sr. said regarding the re-opening of his son’s recruitment. “But Michigan State will be great for him.”
An athletic perimeter player who is ranked among the top 10 prospects in the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s Class of 2014 player rankings, Ellis became a hotter commodity than at any time during his previous recruitment last summer or fall. That tends to happen when you’re an uncommitted talent in April.
There were several high-major programs inquiring about Ellis, including Missouri, which was set to receive a visit from Ellis. But following a weekend trip to East Lansing two weeks ago, Ellis made the decision to become a Spartan.
He now joins former De La Salle teammate Gavin Schilling, a 6-9 forward who played his junior year with Ellis before transferring to Findlay Prep in Nevada for his senior year.
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