Tag: Boogie Ellis

Boogie Ellis leads by example for USC, makes loud statement about his value to the Trojans

Boogie Ellis had a rough day against Miami at the 2022 NCAA Tournament. This was his biggest stage since then. He answered the call for #USC.

This was hardly a universal feeling among USC basketball fans last spring, but certainly some members of the fan base felt it, and moreover, it was entirely understandable: When the news hit the wires that Boogie Ellis was staying at USC for one more season, some people were disappointed.

Let’s be very clear: Boogie Ellis was a good player for USC last season. He helped the Trojans put together a very good regular season and move into the NCAA Tournament. Ellis hustled, competed, and hit a number of very big shots for Andy Enfield’s team. USC would have been in a more difficult spot without him. The Trojans wouldn’t have remained unbeaten into January of 2022 without him. Yet, limitations existed.

He wasn’t an elite shooter. He didn’t always make the smartest possible plays. He didn’t get to the foul line enough. In the NCAA Tournament against Miami, Ellis did get injured, but it remained that Ethan Anderson — who later transferred to Wyoming — gave USC a bigger boost than Boogie. It was not Ellis’s finest hour. Fans had doubts, and those doubts came honestly. It was reasonable to question whether Ellis would be the best possible solution for USC this season. Maybe a transfer option would have been better.

Sunday against Auburn, Boogie Ellis spoke plainly, clearly and powerfully … and not with words.

USC’s guard got down and Boogied. Ellis went to work and scored 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting and an 8-of-10 performance at the foul line, including the game’s final few free throws in a 74-71 USC win. Boogie carried his USC teammates to the finish line. This win involved some supporting-cast contributions, but make no mistake: Boogie Ellis led this team. It climbed on his back and secured a huge result against a very good Auburn team.

USC is thankful Boogie Ellis stuck around one more season. NBA scouts were watching in the Galen Center. Ellis, who committed only two turnovers in what was a complete performance, noticeably improved his draft stock. Was that motivation? Sure it was. Did Boogie Ellis have more to prove than merely showing the scouts he could ball? Definitely. This was for USC more than anything else. His value to the program should not be underestimated.

Neither should the Trojans themselves — not after this big win.

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USC gets huge win over Auburn, first big step toward the NCAA Tournament

#USC badly needed this win to improve its NCAA Tournament resume. Now the Trojans have something to build on. Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson led the way.

The USC Trojans simply had to win this game if they wanted to have a realistic shot at the 2023 NCAA Tournament. They needed to beat the Auburn Tigers on Sunday to show they could win a significant nonconference game against a high-quality opponent.

They got the job done.

Boogie Ellis threw down 28 points, Kobe Johnson collected six steals, and the Trojans forced 23 Auburn turnovers in a 74-71 win in the Galen Center on Sunday afternoon. Boogie was the leader this team needed, but the supporting-cast efforts of Kobe Johnson, Joshua Morgan, and Tre White in particular were enough to help USC beat an Auburn team which is expected to contend for the SEC championship. USC certainly hopes Auburn will thrive, because the Trojans need this win to look really good in a few months.

If it does, the value of this Auburn win will wipe away the negative value of that horrid loss to Florida Gulf Coast, the one true blemish on USC’s resume. The Trojans’ other losses, to Wisconsin and Tennessee, aren’t bad losses. They were failures to boost the resume, but they aren’t outright deficits. The Trojans didn’t have anything to recommend them for March Madness. Now they do. That’s the importance of this Auburn win.

USC was clinging to a 61-59 lead with just under four minutes left when Reese Dixon-Waters grabbed a crucial offensive rebound. Kobe Johnson hit two free throws shortly thereafter. Joshua Morgan added a dunk. USC took a four-point lead into the final 2:30. Ellis, who was 9 of 15 from the field and played brilliantly, locked down the game at the free throw line in the closing moments.

USC next faces Colorado State Wednesday night in Phoenix before moving into Pac-12 play.

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Pacers to host Josh Minott, others for pre-draft workout

Memphis freshman Josh Minott will be among the draft prospects to work out with the Pacers on Friday.

Memphis freshman Josh Minott will be among the draft prospects to work out with the Indiana Pacers on Friday, the team announced. It is their first workout ahead of the draft.

Minott, who does not plan to return to Memphis, was named to the AAC All-Freshman team after averaging 6.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 33 games. He produced his best game of the season on Jan. 23 with 18 points and nine rebounds in a win against Tulsa.

The 6-foot-8 forward is considered to be a potential first-round pick after a strong season with the Tigers. He has also worked out with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, and will compete in the draft combine May 18-20 in Chicago, Illinois.

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In addition to Minott, the Pacers will also work out Utah Valley center Fardaws Aimaq, Michigan center Moussa Diabate, USC guard Boogie Ellis, Saint Joseph’s guard Jordan Hall and Davidson forward Hyunjung Lee on Friday.

Indiana enters the pre-draft process slotted fifth in the first round prior to the draft lottery after finishing with a 25-57 record. They also have the 31st pick from the Houston Rockets and the 60th pick from the Phoenix Suns.

The NBA draft will take place on June 23.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Aggregate NBA mock draft 3.0: Jabari Smith leaps ahead of Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren for No. 1

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from Draft Express (ESPN), Aran Smith (NBADraft.net), Sam Vecenie (The Athletic), Jonathan Wasserman (Bleacher Report), Jeremy Woo (Sports Illustrated), Krysten Peek (Yahoo), Matt Babcock (Basketball News) as well as USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score in order to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion. Predictions for a first overall pick earned a player 58 points while the second overall pick earned 57 points, the third overall earned 56 points, and so on.

Johnny Davis (Wisconsin), Jeremy Sochan (Baylor), Harrison Ingram (Stanford), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame), and Walker Kessler (Auburn) have improved their draft stock the most since our most recent update last month.

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Tari Eason (LSU), Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown), Dereon Seabron (NC State), Christian Braun (Kansas), Trevion Williams (Purdue) and Orlando Robinson (Fresno State).

Some of the top prospects who were not included in any of these most recent mock drafts include Matthew Cleveland (Florida State), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Max Abmas (Oral Roberts), Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Alex Fudge (LSU), Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse), Josh Minott (Memphis) and Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Aggregate NBA mock draft 3.0: Jabari Smith leaps ahead of Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren for No. 1

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from Draft Express (ESPN), Aran Smith (NBADraft.net), Sam Vecenie (The Athletic), Jonathan Wasserman (Bleacher Report), Jeremy Woo (Sports Illustrated), Krysten Peek (Yahoo), Matt Babcock (Basketball News) as well as USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score in order to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion. Predictions for a first overall pick earned a player 58 points while the second overall pick earned 57 points, the third overall earned 56 points, and so on.

Johnny Davis (Wisconsin), Jeremy Sochan (Baylor), Harrison Ingram (Stanford), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame), and Walker Kessler (Auburn) have improved their draft stock the most since our most recent update last month.

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Tari Eason (LSU), Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown), Dereon Seabron (NC State), Christian Braun (Kansas), Trevion Williams (Purdue) and Orlando Robinson (Fresno State).

Some of the top prospects who were not included in any of these most recent mock drafts include Matthew Cleveland (Florida State), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Max Abmas (Oral Roberts), Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Alex Fudge (LSU), Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse), Josh Minott (Memphis) and Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

2022 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0: Debut rankings of the top 101 prospects

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

One of the top pre-season prospects (Patrick Baldwin Jr.) is playing for a mid-major program that has just two wins so far this season. Other top prospects (AJ Griffin and Peyton Watson) are not getting much playing time for their high-major programs. Meanwhile, guard Jean Montero is playing in the inaugural Overtime Elite league. How do we compare his productivity to other prospects? I’m frankly not sure.

But nevertheless, my big board exists. Rather than going small, I decided to blow it up and do the opposite. Why did I go ahead and rank 101 prospects if this class has been so challenging to evaluate? There are two distinct reasons.

One is that I’m absolutely crazy and get a very fulfilling satisfaction with the completion of a mock draft and big board because it feels complete. It looks awesome seeing as many names as I can fit on one article, even if the science behind the rankings is a bit inconclusive.

The other reason is that as I make more big boards throughout the year, it’s interesting to track the progress (and regression) of certain prospects. I am inevitably wrong about most of these placements! But this article serves as a barometer for where I feel certain players are at in their development right now.

Note that several notable prospects (e.g. freshmen Max Christie, Matthew Cleveland, Nolan Hickman, Hunter Sallis, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jeremy Sochan, Kobe Bufkin) were excluded because I expect them to go back to school to improve their draft stock.

More likely than not, some of those players will declare for the 2022 NBA draft. When that happens, I obviously will not have them outside of my top 101.

Until then, as we prepare to turn the calendar into a new year, here are the debut rankings for 101 of my favorite prospects.

All stats are accurate as of Dec. 14 and are from Sports-Reference unless noted otherwise.

Aggregate NBA mock draft 2.0: Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith battle for No. 1

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, Basketball News and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Since our last update, the players who have improved the most spots are Ismael Kamagate (Paris), Moussa Diabate (Michigan), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Hugo Besson (New Zealand), Efe Abogidi (Washington State),  Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Max Christie (Michigan State), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas).

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Trevor Keels (Duke), Bryce McGowens (Nebraska), MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Christian Koloko (Arizona), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame),  Josh Minott (Memphis), Zach Edey (Purdue), and Johnny Davis (Wisconsin).

Some of the top prospects who did not make the cut this time included Hunter Sallis (Gonzaga), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (Tennesse), Kobe Bufkin (Michigan), Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Jahvon Quinerly (Albama), Adam Flagler (Baylor), Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Matthieu Gauzin (Le Mans), Isaiah Wong (Miami), Marcus Williams (Texas A&M), and Tyson Etienne (Wichita State).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report