Duke lands four-star Boogie Ellis
It’s been a big week for Duke Basketball and things just got better. Friday, Boogie Ellis, a four-star point guard from San Diego announced his decision to commit to Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils.
Ellis recently made a round of visits including stops at Duke, North Carolina, Memphis, San Diego State, Oregon, USC, Arizona and Georgia Tech.
The visits resulted in an Oct. 30 announcement of his final five. Oregon, Arizona and Georgia Tech were eliminated in the first wave of cuts.
Now, only Duke stands.
“I think Duke did an amazing job on this, as Boogie Ellis is not a Duke fan,” Devils Illustrated recruiting analyst Clint Jackson said. “He made this decision as a business decision. And I think he saw an opportunity to get on the court pretty quickly in Durham and play on the biggest stage.”
The 6-foot-2, 165-pound combo guard was virtually an unknown to many in the college recruiting world until late spring and early summer. That’s when the senior burst onto the scene in a big way. He went from unranked to cracking the Top 150 at No. 136 in early July.
That wasn’t quite good enough for Ellis, as he continued making his climb up the rankings. By mid-August, he had jumped in the rankings yet again, this time to the No. 108 spot. Again, Ellis wasn’t done making his statement. When the latest rankings came out on Sept. 14, he had moved up 67 spots to the No. 41 ranking.
In the process, programs started taking full notice of his abilities. Duke was one of them.
“He’s a guy who blossomed in the summer and went from a regional recruit to a national one,” Jackson said. “His playmaking skills as a combo-guard are very strong, but it was his ability to strip the nets as an outside shooter that, at least in my opinion, took his recruitment to that elite level.”
Ellis joins five-star Wendell Moore on Duke’s list of commitments, creating a strong foundation on the wings.
Krzyzewski always has his eyes on guys that can shoot the ball and keep defense’s honest. Ellis gives Duke exactly that.
“Ellis will be able to play on and off the ball and Duke loves guys who can space the floor and shoot,” Jackson noted. “And they see Ellis as a guy who can do that.”