Former KU forward Perry Ellis able to work out again, hopes to resume pro career
Former University of Kansas basketball forward Perry Ellis continues to make steady progress from last summer’s surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.
Ellis, 26, was injured in the opening minute of the KU alumni team’s first-round loss to Sideline Cancer in the 2019 TBT, contested last July 25 in Ellis’ hometown of Wichita. He had surgery on July 31.
“I’m not 100% yet. I’m cleared for doing workouts, playing 1-on-1. I am still in Lawrence, just continuing to work out to wait and see what my agent hears from teams,” Ellis told The Star over the weekend.
Elli, who has played in Australia, Italy, Germany and Turkey since graduating from KU in 2016, rehabbed last season in Lawrence while working as assistant video coordinator on Bill Self’s coaching staff at KU.
He’s committed to playing basketball again — likely overseas during the upcoming 2020-21 season, if the coronavirus pandemic allows basketball to resume. Thus, he is not planning on returning to his job at KU during the upcoming schoolyear.
“Making the best out of this has been a blessing in disguise. He has been able to graduate, heal, rehab and get coaching experience all at the same time and spend time with his family and fiancé,” Perry’s mom, Fonda Ellis, said.
Ellis posted a video of a recent workout on his Instagram account over the weekend.
Azubuike a top defender
Former KU center Udoka Azubuike has been ranked No. 8 on college basketball writer Andy Katz’s list of the top lockdown defenders in college basketball since the year 2010.
Anthony Davis of Kentucky was No. 1, followed by Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon, West Virginia’s Jevon Carter, Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft, Louisville’s Russ Smith, Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein, Azubuike, Washington’s Matisse Thybulle and Indiana’s Victor Oladipo.
KU’s Marcus Garrett and Jeff Withey did not make the list. Garrett was named the 2020 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year as awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Azubuike was named 2020 NABC Defensive Player of the Year. Withey blocked an NCAA-record 31 shots in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Recruit Bradley to attend IMG
Jaden Bradley, a 6-3 junior-to-be point guard who is ranked No. 8 in the recruiting Class of 2022 by Rivals.com, has decided to transfer from Cannon School in Concord, North Carolina to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida for his final two years of high school, he reported on Twitter.
Bradley, who is considering KU, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville, Florida, Florida State, Michigan and many otherschools, averaged 23.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.9 steals a game his junior season at Cannon School.
“I just felt like this move would help me develop at a higher level,” Bradley told SI.com. “I know most of the guys there on the team and I know that I would be pushing myself every day in practice. I feel like this will help me grow in a lot of ways on and off the court.
“I went down there and toured the campus a couple weeks ago and the facilities are crazy. It’s really a college feel. I think we’ll have the talent to do some special things there next season. I think we may get a couple more pieces, but the whole vibe down there is guys working hard and pushing through their limits. I feel like that’s what will make all of us successful. I just felt like it was time to take my game to the next level.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Former KU forward Perry Ellis able to work out again, hopes to resume pro career."
