Le Ron Ellis - College Career - University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

Ellis spent the summer of 1987 playing in the U.S. Olympic Festival basketball games for the West team before entering the NCAA. At Kentucky he was a highly regarded incoming freshman that Wildcats head coach Eddie Sutton considered to be the next Sam Bowie. LeRon Ellis played a secondary role, mostly coming off the bench, behind center Robert Lock and power forward Winston Bennett during his freshman season. However Ellis did manage to break into the starting lineup several times, making his debut as a starter on January 31, 1988 against Notre Dame where he enjoyed a then-career high of 14 points and five steals. LeRon Ellis averaged 4.3 points per game and 13.8 minutes per game, while starting in 12 of 28 games during the 1987-88 season. All-American and All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) basketball star Rex Chapman led Kentucky that season to their 37th SEC title with a 27-6 record. The Wildcats were ranked as the 6th college basketball team in the nation by the Associated Press and UPI and secured the number two Southeast Conference seed in the 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Kentucky's talents led the team to the tournament's Sweet Sixteen, where they suffered a defeat against Villanova.

LeRon Ellis made local headlines at the start of his sophomore year when became the first African American inducted into the University of Kentucky's Kappa Alpha fraternity. Ellis was also the center of attention on the court as many of Kentucky's high-profile basketball players were unable to play in the 1988-89 season. Offensive and defensive stars Ed Davender, Robert Lock and Winston Bennett graduated from school; the Wildcats' MVP Rex Chapman left school early to enter the 1988 NBA Draft; sophomore standout Eric Manuel was suspended for the entire season from playing basketball and potential franchise recruit Shawn Kemp was transferred out of the university before the start of the season. Kentucky's basketball program was essentially put into the hands of the unexperienced sophomore LeRon Ellis and freshman Chris Mills. The two underclassmen struggled to fill the talent vacuum on the court and even prior to the season many had predicted rough times ahead for the Wildcats' 1988–89 season.

Ellis led Kentucky in points that season while starting in the power forward and center positions. The talented sophomore would experience his best offensive season in his entire collegiate career, averaging a career high of 16 points per game and a 51.9% field goal percentage, including noteworthy defensive numbers with 5.5 rebounds per game as well as 1.1 blocks per game. Ellis' best single game outing (and arguably the highlight of his Kentucky tenure) was his performance against Northwestern University where he set a career-high as a Wildcat with 37 points in one game while netting 14 of 17 field goals The feat placed him in the record books then as the second most points scored by a Kentucky sophomore in a single game. The Wildcats' star was honored for his outstanding performance at the University of Kentucky's annual awards banquet where he received the "Most Points" and "Most Sacrifice" awards. However Ellis was not without his own shortcomings, being considered inconsistent on offense and weak on defense. In the end, Ellis was unable to lift Kentucky out of their battered season that was marred by poor performances on the court and an ongoing NCAA investigation into the school's basketball program off the court. The Wildcats finished with a losing record of 13–19, the lowest full season finish in the school's history since 1927.

To add injury to insult, the NCAA announced at the end of the season that its investigation into the University of Kentucky's basketball program had found the school responsible of violating NCAA recruitment policies. Consequently the Wildcats were reprimanded with a three-year probation and LeRon Ellis shortly thereafter announced that he would no longer be attending Kentucky. Ellis again was courted by some of the nation's top college basketball programs upon making his announcement. He traveled across the country visiting UCLA, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Syracuse University during the 1989 summer. Ellis was keenly interested in transferring to UNLV but had a sudden change of heart after discovering that their basketball program was under NCAA investigation and could possibly face sanctions similar to the University of Kentucky. Though unaware at the time, LeRon Ellis could have potentially been a member of the 1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship team had he decided to enroll at UNLV in 1989. LeRon Ellis eventually announced on July 17, 1989 that he would transfer to Syracuse. Ellis was allowed to play in the upcoming 1989–90 season and would not have to sit out a season as a redshirt transfer because the University of Kentucky was placed on probation.