How Good is Wayne Ellington?

The beginning of the college hoops season is always a reason to feel good, even more important in the midst of an international economic meltdown. And the national game between Kentucky and North Carolina was particularly intriguing. The Tar Heels are ranked #1 in the pre-season and are loaded, and Kentucky is trying to return to glory in the second year under coach Billy Gillespie. Unfortunately, there was not a whole lot of suspense as Carolina controlled the game from the early minutes.

Coach Williams' team, playing without Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough, was very impressive, particularly its defensive intensity. This might have been somewhat misleading though because of the weak play by Kentucky's guards. It is surprising that a big-time program would send a team on the floor so devoid of ballhandling and backcourt quickness. Against a pressure defense like Carolina's, this bordered on the suicidal. And Roy Williams teams always seem to be able to throw wave after wave of quality players at you, even with a key injury or two.

The Tar Heels' three most publicized players are Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington and much has been made of the fact that all three of them decided against going into the NBA draft. The main interest here is Ellington because he is a Philadelphia-area product and teamed with Duke's Gerald Henderson at Episcopal Academy to form one of the most precocious tandems in the history of Philadelphia high school basketball - multi-talented sharpshooting 6'5" swingmen with speed, quickness, strength, and vertical leap. It was a treat to watch them play together. But although they have had fine collegiate careers to date, neither has attained the superstardom that many expected. This is probably due to the caliber of major programs in Division I basketball. Duke and Carolina can recruit the best talent from around the world and their programs are so team-oriented that it's hard for any individual to stand out from the pack - although Hansbrough for one seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.

But truth be told, Ellington has been somewhat disappointing. His shot is erratic, the release is not particularly quick, and Ellington has not shown the ability to get it off under pressure - either off the dribble or catch-and-shoot. He also does not have unlimited range with his shot so the extended three-point line could impact him negatively. His ballhandling is mediocre as are his defense and rebounding. It's not a case of not being ready for the pros; it's hard to see his game ever being suited to the NBA. At this point in his NCAA career, one might characterize Ellington has a good role player on a very good team.

Gerald Henderson has some of the same issues as his former teammate but we will discuss him in more detail on another occasion.