Eli Ellis set to enter transfer portal after freshman season at South Carolina

South Carolina’s highest-ranked recruit from the class of 2025 will spend just one year in Columbia, as freshman guard Eli Ellis will enter the transfer portal, he told On3’s Joe Tipton on Monday.

Ellis will have three years of eligibility remaining.

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Ellis appeared in 28 games for the Gamecocks this past year, despite not earning a start in any of them. Yet he was a spark plug off the bench, providing productivity and energy upon entering each game. Ellis accumulated 26.8 minutes played and 8.6 points per game, both of which ranked fifth on the team. His scoring output was also the highest among players who did not start a game all season.

He made 38.6 percent of the shot attempts he took, including 28 percent from behind the arc.

Ellis came into the 2025-26 campaign with plenty of hype attached to his name. He served as South Carolina’s lone representative among Rivals’ top 100 prospects from this past year’s recruiting class, slotting in at No. 71. He was also coming off two-straight MVP-caliber campaigns in Overtime Elite, where he led the YNG Dreamerz to a championship during his final season in the league.

The transfer portal will officially open on April 7 for a two-week window. Strong is the first player from the Gamecocks to enter.

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