Ashley Ellis’ friends and family are getting frequent-flyer miles saved up.
That’s because the 6-foot-3 high-school senior out of Antioch, Calif., is going far, far away for college. Ellis committed to play for the Kansas University women’s basketball team last week.
“People are telling me, “That’s so far away!” Ellis said. “I say ‘Yeah, but it’s a good place.'”
Ellis, a center, chose Kansas over Oregon State, and will sign her letter of intent next month. A standout at Deer Valley High in Antioch – near the Bay Area – Ellis averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds per game, earning an honorable mention All-America honors by Street and Smith magazine.
The All-Star Girls Report ranks Ellis as the 78th best prospect and 15th best center in the country.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Angel Goodrich, a 5-5 point guard from Sequoyah High in Tahlequah, Okla., also has committed to KU following last weekend’s campus visit.
Goodrich averaged 17.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.9 steals, 7.5 assists and 1.4 blocked shots last season for the 27-0 Indians.
She averaged 21.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 6.3 steals as a sophomore and 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists as a freshman, winning state all three years.
“This just felt right and a perfect fit for her,” Goodrich’s mom, Faith Lewis told the Muskogee Phoenix newspaper. “The (KU coaches) proved to me that Angel’s been the one they wanted. Ever since they could talk to her, they got to know her as a person, not just a basketball player.”
Goodrich chose KU over Oklahoma, Tulsa and Texas A&M. She has been called one of the best point guards to play in Oklahoma.
“She’s been playing ball since she was 7,” Lewis said. “It was a big decision and Zack (Angel’s brother) helped along the way by giving her brotherly advice. It was a family decision.”
Kansas hit the men’s basketball recruiting bonanza on Monday, landing oral commitments from two big men Jeff Graves of Iowa Western Community College and Moulaye Niang of El Cajon, Calif.
Graves, a 6-foot-9, 255-pound juco sophomore, and Niang, a 6-9, 205-pound high school senior, orally committed to KU in the wake of their recruiting visits last weekend.
“I am really excited to go to school at Kansas. I knew it would be good, but it was much more than I expected. The fans the love they have for the players was so great,” said Niang, who was impressed with Friday’s Late Night With Roy Williams.
“The players were so nice. It’s not every day you see seniors hanging out with the freshmen. At KU I saw everybody hanging out together, joking around and laughing. That is important to me. I am far away from home.”
Home to Niang is Senegal, West Africa.
He left his native country just last year and immediate surfaced as MVP of El Cajon High’s team, averaging 12.5 points and 10 rebounds for the 22-6 squad.
“I met 20 people from Senegal who go to Kansas,” Niang said, well aware KU has an excellent African Studies and Geography program. “It was important to me to see so many people from Senegal. They all really enjoy KU.”
Niang chose Kansas over San Diego State and Connecticut. Early in the recruiting process he heard inquiries from Stanford, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Notre Dame and others. KU’s coaches uncovered Niang at a tournament in California last year and fell in love with the potential of the athletic big man.
“When I first came here, I could do nothing with my left hand,” Niang said. “Now I can dunk with my left hand. My ballhandling is better, my shooting is better. I run faster and am stronger. Last year I was 188 (pounds). Now I am 203, 204. I am not afraid of work. I like hard work and my goal is to listen to coach Williams and become the best player I can be.”
El Cajon coach Curtis Hofmeister said Niang, who first picked up a basketball seven years ago, has a gigantic upside.
“A high ceiling and I think Kansas sees that,” Hofmeister said. “Kansas is high on his athleticism and character. They liked him from the beginning when they saw him last Christmas. He still has a year left here to continue his weight program and progress on the court. Over the next 12 months he’ll be hitting the weights hard. He needs to work on his offensive game and his body.”
In Graves, Kansas gets a huge basketball player who is ready to bang at the major-college level.
“Remember he’s a football player, too. He was a defensive end in high school,” Graves’ mom, Sharon, said of her son, a Lee’s Summit, Mo., native. “He used to be about 6-5, 6-6, 275 pounds. He went to Iowa Western, got on a diet and in their program and his body transformed. He’s a lean machine. He’s close to 6-10 now. He likes contact.”
Graves he averaged 12 points and 10 boards his freshman season at Iowa Western, then became a big-time recruit after dominating the Mullens juco camp in August chose KU over Long Beach State, Illinois, Iowa State, Missouri, Florida State and Louisville. Cardinals coach Rick Pitino made an impression late, traveling to Lee’s Summit for a one-on-one meeting with Graves’ mother.
“You can’t beat that Kansas coaching staff,” Sharon Graves said. “I think this is a great fit for him. Frankly we met some really great people in recruiting and great programs he could have contributed and made an impact. Kansas is the best fit.
“The kids he’ll be playing with are phenomenal talent. He knows a lot of their kids from playing AAU ball and last weekend confirmed his thoughts that KU is the best place for him.”
Graves’ mom is tickled her son will be playing so close to her Lee’s Summit home.
“I have never missed one of his games. I will be at all the games,” she said. “Yes, the comfort level of playing close to home is important.”
She might be watching more than one of her children at KU. Robbie Graves, who has left Missouri-Kansas City with one year of eligibility, might join the KU program next year either as a walk-on or a scholarship player if the NCAA eliminates the “5-and-8” recruiting rule, which limits a program to five scholarships in one year and eight over a two-year span.
Robbie Graves is a 6-3 guard.
“This is not a package deal,” Sharon Graves said. “The coaches pointed out he’ll have to meet all academic standards and go through everything else to work hard to get back to the level he was at before he was injured (in August). Robbie knows what he has to do. He has talked with academic people and the coaches (at KU).”
Of Graves, Iowa Western assistant coach Trent Lovewell gushed: “Jeff’s deal is he will be as good as he wants to be. He has all the skills, intangibles, size. He runs great. He’s a great athlete. He tries to dunk it every time he can. He’s got it all.
“His deal is how good does he want to be? Will the light come on? He’s got it all physically. He’s just got to commit himself. As far as raw talent, there isn’t anybody better. He’s huge, with a thick barreled chest, arms. He’s strong and loves the weight room.”
And he loves KU.
“Coach Wiliams’ camp is where I learned the basics,” said Graves, who attended the camp nine years ago. “That helped my coordination and defense and I’ve followed KU since that.”
KU now has one scholarship available. Kevin Bookout, a 6-8 forward from Stroud, Okla., who also attended Late Night, told analyst Greg Swaim on Monday night KU was now out of the picture.
“They got two big guys they wanted and now they want a wing player,” Bookout told Swaim. Bookout was a KU longshot, his two brothers and parents having attended OU.
Andre Igoudala, 6-6 from Springfield, Ill., who is reportedly favoring Arkansas, will visit KU this weekend. KU is also after Hassan Adams, 6-5 from Los Angeles, who has already visited. Adams likes Arizona, KU, UCLA, Cal and others.
Niang and Graves will sign with KU during the Nov. 14-21 signing period.
