Eight seasons later, KU’s Bill Self sees even more in Perry Ellis

In all of the years Bill Self has been recruiting basketball players — and for much of that time, especially at Kansas, he’s been recruiting the best of the best — he couldn’t recall going to the first high school game of a recruit.

Until Perry Ellis.

On Dec. 5, 2008, Self showed up at Koch Arena for the opening game of the high school season, Heights vs. East.

Ellis already knew he wanted to go to Kansas, so it’s not as if Self had to put on a full-court press.

“He was an easy guy to recruit because he wasn’t seeking attention,” Self said Friday, on the eve of Kansas’ Elite Eight game against Villanova in the NCAA Tournament. “Just like he is now, he’s not seeking attention. So he was a fun guy to recruit because it wasn’t like you had to talk to him every day, to be honest with you, in order to let him know that you love him a lot. Which is something you have to do with a lot of recruits.

“If you told him maybe on Monday, then by Friday he would still believe that there was probably still some love involved.”

The 6-foot-8 Ellis won four state championships at Heights, made Kansas his college pick and is having a senior season for the ages. He has scored 20 or more points in seven of KU’s past eight games while making 65 of 108 shots.

Ellis’s matchup with Villanova’s Kris Jenkins, who is 6-6, will be the most interesting of the game. And one Villanova coach Jay Wright has been thinking about since KU’s win over Maryland in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.

“If you put too much attention on Perry Ellis, they have a system and a scheme to take advantage of that and get everybody else easier shots,” Wright said. “You’ve got to play Ellis straight up. If you give him too much attention, they have a way of getting (Wayne) Selden going. (Devonte’) Graham gets going.”

Ellis has been remarkably consistent, hitting double figures in all but two of KU’s 37 games. Despite an incredible high school career, there were questions about him when he arrived in Lawrence and they mostly involved his motor. Would he develop the intensity necessary to be a great college player?

Nobody has ever denied Ellis’ talent. He is quick, can shoot and can guard inside and outside, although getting out to Jenkins, a good and aggressive three-point shooter, could be a challenge.

Over time, Ellis has ramped up his aggression. So much so that it’s really not worth thinking about anymore. The results from Ellis are vicious, even if the demeanor isn’t.

Besides, Self knew what he was getting. And for the first year or two, he remarked often about how quiet Ellis was for a kid with such obvious intelligence. Ellis was the valedictorian at Heights, where he carried a 4.0 grade-point average.

“That was a hard accomplishment to achieve,” Ellis said. “It’s not something that came easy — I had to work really hard to try and get that. It was a lot of hours and something I really didn’t want to boast about. I just went with it, went with the flow.”

Ellis has continued his remarkable academic performance at KU, where he’s been academic All-Big 12 multiple times.

“He’s always been rock solid, but I think he’s much more comfortable in public settings than maybe what he was early,” Self said. “To see how he handles situations publicly and through the media or with his teammates, he exudes confidence. I think that’s as much how he’s grown as anything else.”

Ellis averaged 13.5 and 13.8 points as a sophomore and junior, but there’s been an explosion to his game this season. He’s so consistently good. He stopped trying to be perfect and learned to accept fallibility.

“I remember coming in as a freshman at Kansas and wanting to do everything perfect,” Ellis said. “It’s OK having that mindset, but at times in basketball there are ups and downs and you have to be able to fight through that. I’ve learned that.”

Ellis’ dream is to play in the NBA, although it doesn’t seem to be the dream of many NBA general managers to bring him on board.

He doesn’t show up on many of the first-round mock drafts and is regarded by some as a tweener, not quite big enough to play in the paint and not skilled enough to be on the perimeter.

I’ve given up on trying to determine what NBA people look for in players, so I asked Self about Ellis’ prospects.

“I don’t know that Perry has a lot of shortcomings,” Self said. “He’s not a big four-man, but he can stretch it and certainly (dribble) and he’s a good passer. I think he can really defend his position. So I think he can make an NBA team better.”

Ellis has certainly made Kansas better. He’s helped make the Jayhawks the favorite to go all the way and are there shoulders more equipped to handled those expectations?

Self saw qualities in Ellis early, like so many others. He was a legend as a Brooks Middle School player, so Self wanted to make sure he didn’t miss that high school opener more than seven years ago.

“It definitely meant a lot to me for Coach Self to be there,” Ellis said. “I had been up to KU before and met some players and just felt so comfortable. I felt like it would be my home.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Eight seasons later, KU’s Bill Self sees even more in Perry Ellis."