What they're saying about Eli Ellis during South Carolina's summer workouts

South Carolina will be rolling out an almost entirely new roster this season, and one of the more intriguing players that most will be keeping a close eye on is freshman guard Eli Ellis.

Ellis, the main piece of South Carolina’s high school recruiting class, was a four-star prospect in high school and ranked as the No. 71 overall player in the Class of 2025 by On3. He was a two-time MVP in the Overtime Elite league with the YNG Dreamerz. He led the team to a championship this past season after averaging 32.1 points per game, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game.

On Wednesday, 10 newcomers on the team spoke to the media for the first time after practice. Here’s a look at what some of them had to say about Ellis and what they’ve seen watching him this summer.

Kobe Knox

“He’s a competitor. He’s competitive. I think he’s going to have a great college career. Definitely at the point of position as a freshman coming in, he’s showing confidence and stuff like that in his work. So it’s definitely great.”

Knox on Ellis’ playmaking ability as a scoring guard

“It’s really rare, especially for somebody his size. He’s not scared of getting in the paint, you know, fighting there. He’s a strong, strong defender, too. So it’s been really good.”

READ HERE: Notes from South Carolina’s newcomer availability during final week of summer workouts

Nordin Kapic

“He’s my roommate. Yeah, he’s a big fan of me. He’s a good guy.”

Kapic on if Ellis has included him in any of his TikTok videos yet

“Not yet. He doesn’t want to show me some love. He’s scared that I’m gonna take his fans away.”

Meechie Johnson

“I haven’t got to share your court with him, but he definitely does some stuff that’s like, dang, I didn’t expect him to do that. Great player, great energy. He’s a dawg. I’d say that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve seen in his game is his competitiveness. So he’s going to be really good.”

Johnson on if seeing Ellis’ playstyle reminds him of himself

“I mean, I was a freshman before, and I had those moments, but I think he definitely has a chance in this system with Coach Paris, to show more, probably than what I did my freshman year. So I see things, but he’s definitely on a higher pedestal when it comes to social media and stuff like that, all that. But he’s a competitor, dawg. If there’s anything I see, I probably see that the most is just his competitive nature.”

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“Anytime he plays, I’m sure you guys have seen it today, like he’s a fierce competitor. He just feels like he’s the best player on the court. I mean, what teammate would you not want to have on your team like that? He just has that confidence. Confidence is one of the best things you can have as a player, and that’s something that he’s ultimately got. And I see that every time I watch him play.”

Hayden Assemian on getting to play with Eli Ellis and Abu Yarmah in Overtime Elite and now again at South Carolina

“It was crazy just knowing that we were going to be here next year, knowing that we had a whole nother year or two, or three, maybe four, just being able to play with each other again and grow. So it was cool just playing jokes with them. I didn’t know who was going to be with us either. So it was cool.”

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