Former Kansas Jayhawks forward Perry Ellis to continue pro basketball career in France
Former University of Kansas forward Perry Ellis will continue his professional basketball career in France during the 2022-23 season.
Cholet Basket, a team located in Cholet, France, on Monday announced the signing of the 6-foot-8, 28-year-old Wichita native to a one-year contract.
Cholet Basket competes in the Pro A French league.
Ellis, who was not selected in the 2016 NBA Draft after playing at KU four seasons, has competed for teams on four continents during his pro career. He’s ready for his latest opportunity.
“I’m really excited to play in France. We got to go there with KU. We went to play (exhibitions) there my freshman year,” Ellis said Monday in an interview with the Star.
He noted that he and his wife are expecting a baby.
“We’ll have the baby in France. We’re planning on having our parents come out at some point. It’s an exciting time,” Ellis stated.
He headed overseas after playing his first season of pro ball (2016-17) for the Greensboro (North Carolina) Swarm of the NBA G League. After that, he played in Australia, Italy, Germany and Turkey.
After undergoing knee surgery in the summer of 2019, Ellis spent the 2019-20 season working as KU basketball coach Bill Self’s video coordinator.
In 2020-21, he returned to the court, playing for Ehime Orange Vikings in Japan. In 2021-22, he played for Osaka Evessa in Japan, then was acquired by Saga Ballooners, another squad in Japan. A U.S. player was hurt on Saga’s team, thus Osaka loaned Ellis to Saga.
In 19 games last season for Saga, Ellis averaged 15.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. For Osaka Evessa, he averaged 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 14 games.
“It’s a blessing,” Ellis said of playing in so many places. “Not a lot of people get to play and travel like this. I’m making the most of this opportunity while I can.”
He said he’s 100% healthy at this time with current plans playing for a long time.
“I probably could,” he said, asked if he could go as many as 10 more years. “We’ll see how it goes year to year. It was a grind last year in Japan (but) my body felt awesome.”
In Japan, he watched on TV as his alma mater beat North Carolina in the national title game.
“It was great to see that. It was a crazy game for sure,” Ellis said of KU’s 72-69 comeback victory. “It was such a cool thing to see. I was really happy for everybody.”
Lawrence Vila, the head coach of Ellis’ new team, issued a statement on the power forward’s signing on Monday.
“In addition to Kim Tille (power forward), we chose Perry Ellis who was very good at the University of Kansas and who had started his professional career very well. But he seriously injured his knee in 2019 and found himself away from the courts for a season. He is ready to return to Europe after two great seasons in Japan. He is able to score from the three-point line as well as close to the circle. He is a very altruistic player who has a good reputation. Perry Ellis has been diligent and disciplined in the teams he played for.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2022 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Former Kansas Jayhawks forward Perry Ellis to continue pro basketball career in France."
