ECU’s Ellison slams home good first impression

One can get tired just watching Wakefield Ellison during layup drills.

Ellison, a 6-foot-5 freshman guard on the East Carolina men's basketball team, has not been taking any plays off in the preseason, even during the sometimes monotonous three-man weave layup exercises. The man who dunks the ball pretty much every time it's his turn to go to the basket in layup drills is making a good first impression with the Pirates, although he's doing so without changing his approach to the game.

During Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage in Minges Coliseum, Ellison was arguably the best player on the floor, displaying his offensive versatility by scoring inside and on the perimeter, particularly during the early portion of the scrimmage.

“It felt good to go out there and compete and just play like I've always played my entire life,” said Ellison, one of a group of four Pirate freshmen on scholarship who have all impressed at times since practice officially started Oct. 17. “That's the biggest difference between high school and college is finding your comfort level.

“But I'm just playing as hard as I can. I'm going to do whatever it takes to be on the floor.”

Ellison scored 18 points in the scrimmage, accumulating points on putback layups, mid-range jumpers, free throws and three 3-pointers. His defending didn't stand out the way his offensive aggressiveness did, but it's clear Ellison has the potential to play valuable minutes right away for Mack McCarthy's club.

For that to happen however, Ellison will need to do what McCarthy is asking of all his players — commit to playing defense and operate under the team concept at all times.

“Some guys are measuring their worth in their points, and I'm not talking about Wakefield in particular,” McCarthy said. “Some guys don't understand what we're looking for so that we can win, which is guarding somebody, executing and making each other better offensively.”

Although his collegiate career is still in its embryonic stage, Ellison has been pleased thus far with his matriculation to ECU. Moving from the mountains of his native Asheville to the warm coastal plain of Greenville was certainly a big change for Ellison, but he's embracing the switch and finding his sea legs day-by-day on and off the court.

“It's different from back home with the weather and everything, but I've been enjoying my time down here,” said Ellison, who averaged 25.1 points per game last season at Asheville High and won Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors.

Contact Tony Castleberry at tcastleberry@coxnc.com or (252) 329-9591.