How Kansas basketball star Perry Ellis changed his body and changed his game

Before the jokes about him being an old man, the jokes were that Perry Ellis played like an old man. They said he had a YMCA game. That he was all pump-fakes and spin moves, and they actually, seriously, without-being-sarcastic wondered if this major college basketball player who stood 6 feet 8 could even dunk.

“Yeah,” Ellis says. “I do remember that. I heard a lot of that.”

Not anymore. One of the consequences of a star college basketball player sticking around through his senior year is that he is taken for granted. He becomes boring. We’ve seen him. We know what he can do, and what he can’t do. This is true of NBA scouts, of fans, of coaches, and certainly of media. Ellis is challenging some of that, even subtly.

He is Kansas’ leading scorer as the top-seeded Jayhawks enter their Sweet 16 game against fifth-seeded Maryland here around 8:40 Thursday night. He is among the sport’s most efficient players. This has largely been ignored in the discussion of both Ellis and the team this year, but a lot of it is because of Ellis’ determination to change what his body is capable of.

Andrea Hudy, head strength coach for the KU men’s basketball team, calls Ellis the most diligent and consistent worker in the group. But even by that standard, Ellis has improved his diet — more salads, fruits and vegetables — and worked even harder to improve his agility, mobility, quickness and jumping ability. His body fat is down, his vertical leap up, and his effectiveness has never been greater.

“He used to play below the rim,” says Evan Manning, Ellis’ roommate. “But he’s done everything in his power to change that. It’s cool that people are noticing.”

You can see some of this statistically. Wayne Selden and Jamari Traylor have had the more spectacular dunks, but nobody on the team has dunked as often as Ellis. According to Hoop-Math.com, he is attempting more of his shots at the rim, making them more often and needing assists on fewer of them compared to last year. All of that hints at improved athleticism.

In moments when he may have settled for a mid-range jumper or floater a year ago, he is now getting to the rim, and finishing. This hasn’t changed the way the KU coaches use him, necessarily, but it has made him more effective.

Assistant coach Kurtis Townsend says the most obvious change is Ellis’ ability to convert offensive rebounds and passes near the basket into points.

“That’s where you see that second jump,” Townsend says. “His second jump is so much quicker, so much better. That’s the biggest difference I see.”

Ellis mentions the Jayhawks’ home game against K-State. He had two dunks that stood out in that game, including a two-handed tomahawk after a pick-and-roll left him with a free and easy attack at the rim. But it was the other one that sticks out to Ellis, even now, more than a month later.

It was midway through the second half, and Ellis had denied a pass to Dean Wade, knocking the ball toward the Kansas basket. Ellis then outran both Wade and guard Barry Brown to the ball, finishing the play with a two-handed jam.

“I probably couldn’t have done that before,” Ellis says.

This is all particularly timely now, and not just because Ellis has scored 42 points on 24 shots in the NCAA Tournament’s first two games. When he talks of his improved athleticism, he often refers to increased stamina and endurance.

There were times in Ellis’ first three seasons at KU when he settled for a layup because he didn’t have the energy to dunk. When he remembers the play against K-State, he notes that he had played virtually the entire game, so his legs were tired.

Well, now is the time of the season when endurance and health and strength help guys — and teams — finish strong.

In Maryland, Ellis faces one of his most difficult individual challenges of the season. Maryland was ranked second on Feb. 8, and in the top 10 on Feb. 22. The Terps are particularly talented in the front court, where Diamond Stone, Jake Layman and Robert Carter have helped Maryland rank ninth nationally in blocked shots. Stone was a top 10 national recruit, and the others were four-star recruits. All three are taller than Ellis.

Kansas’ strength is in its balance, but Ellis is KU’s most naturally gifted scorer. More than anyone else, the Jayhawks’ offense goes through him.

He is better prepared for that challenge than ever before, and now, against Maryland, he may be tested like never before.

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "How Kansas basketball star Perry Ellis changed his body and changed his game."