Ellis to Announce College Choice Monday

LeRon Ellis, a former University of Kentucky and Mater Dei High School basketball player, will announce his new college choice at a press conference Monday, his high school coach, Gary McKnight, said Thursday.

Ellis, who left Kentucky in late May after the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. announced sanctions against the school, has narrowed his choice to UCLA and Syracuse, McKnight said. He also had been considering Nevada Las Vegas and St. John’s.

“He wanted to take this week off to decide,” McKnight said. “He told me he doesn’t know yet. He said he may not decide until he walks into the (press conference) Monday.”

Ellis is a 6-foot-10 sophomore, who averaged a team-leading 16 points a game last season for the Wildcats.

At Mater Dei, he led the Monarchs to two Southern Section 5-A championships and one state championship.

Kentucky was placed on three years probation--including a two-year ban on postseason play and a one-year ban on live television--for several violations.