LeRon Ellis to Seek Goal at Syracuse : Former Mater Dei, Kentucky Star Pursues Winning NCAA Title

LeRon Ellis, a former University of Kentucky and Mater Dei High School basketball player, announced Monday that he will be transferring to Syracuse.

Since leaving Kentucky May 22 in the wake of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. sanctions against the school, Ellis had been considering Syracuse, UCLA and Nevada Las Vegas.

After visiting UCLA earlier this month, Ellis narrowed his choices to UCLA and Syracuse, where his friend and former teammate Mike Hopkins plays.

Ellis said Monday afternoon at Mater Dei that he picked Syracuse for the same reason he left Kentucky. He wanted a shot at winning an NCAA title.

That would be impossible at Kentucky. Just days before Ellis left, the Wildcats were placed on three years probation by the NCAA, including a two-year ban on postseason play, for several violations. Among them was a charge that the father of Chris Mills, then a recruit from Fairfax High School, was sent $1,000 by a Kentucky assistant coach.

Because of the sanctions, Ellis, a 6-foot-10 junior center who graduated from Mater Dei in 1987 and led the Monarchs to two Southern Section 5-A championships and one state title, will be eligible to play for Syracuse immediately.

“I left Kentucky because one of my goals in playing college basketball was to win the NCAA title,” said Ellis, who averaged 16 points and five rebounds a game last season. “With the sanctions put on Kentucky, I had to do something to give me the opportunity to achieve my goal.”

He joins a veteran team at Syracuse that includes senior forward Derrick Coleman, Billy Owens, who was one of the finest freshmen in the nation last season, and Stephen Thompson, a guard from Crenshaw High.

“Syracuse has a legitimate shot at the NCAA title,” Ellis said.

Syracuse was 30-8 and reached the Midwest Regional championship game before losing to Illinois last season.

Bernie Fine, a Syracuse assistant coach, told Associated Press that Ellis “is very talented and should come in and have an impact immediately.”

Ellis said two other factors helped him choose Syracuse. First, he wants to change his major from marketing to communications. Syracuse has an excellent communications program. Ellis also likes the running style and the freedom Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim gives his players.

“I could have fit in on either team,” Ellis said of Syracuse and UCLA. “(UCLA) Coach (Jim) Harrick said I would play center and play outside on offense off and on.”

But Ellis said he likes Syracuse’s more wide-open offense.

“Syracuse has no center,” he said. “Their style of play is good for me. The one thing I do well is run the court. It’s going to help me build on the finer points of my game.”

He said leaving Kentucky was difficult, but it proved to be his only recourse. He said the players knew before last season started that the NCAA would impose sanctions on the program at some point and he had time to prepare for it.

“You never know how big basketball is in Kentucky until you are a basketball player in Lexington,” Ellis said.

Now, Ellis will find out how big basketball is in Upstate New York.