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HB · 11-29-2006, 08:56 PM

Its amazing how stacked this UNC team is. Ellington just plays like a pro. His jumper is effortless, his form is excellent. He heats up real fast also. I think this is the best shooter in college basketball right now. He might not be a lottery pick, but he is definitely first round material

zagsfan20 · 11-30-2006, 02:37 AM

Pure shooter. One of the better young shooters in the NCAA this year.

**cpawfan** · 10-28-2007, 09:30 PM

DraftExpress lists him as the #6 pro prospect in the ACC

http://draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=2233

Quote:

Widely considered the #1 shooting guard prospect in his high school class, Wayne Ellington had a solid, but unspectacular freshman season that left most pundits looking for a bit more going into his sophomore year. Ellington’s appeal as a prospect for both the collegiate and NBA level is quite obvious when watching him play—he’s a scorer through and through, blessed with awesome instincts to put the ball in the net and as aggressive a mentality as you’ll find from a wing this age.

A good, but not incredible athlete, Ellington is an extremely fluid player who possesses a nice first step and solid all-around quickness. He’s not terribly explosive getting into the paint and finishing around the rim, relying on smooth finesse moves and being extremely crafty using the glass, but possibly lacking some strength and leaping ability to play above the rim.

Ellington’s bread and butter from what he’s shown so far revolves around his ability to shoot the ball. 70% of his offense (according to Synergy Sports Technology) in fact came in the form of jumpers, getting to the free throw line only 1.6 times per game. He did shoot 37% from behind the arc, though, showing a very nice high-arching jumper that he has no conscience utilizing both in spot-up, or off the dribble situations. His mid-range game in particular shows great promise. What’s scary about Ellington is that his perimeter shooting ability actually has much more potential than he was able to show as a freshman, as he has plenty of room for improvement on his footwork and body control while releasing his jumper, having a tendency to rush his shots at times and release the ball off-balance without being completely set.

This didn’t hamper him from trying to establish himself as North Carolina’s go-to guy, indeed leading the team in shots per minute, and not by a narrow margin. Ellington’s shot-selection is something he must improve on moving forward in his college career, as he has a tendency to focus too heavily on his own offense, taking bad shots early in possessions, despite only being a freshman on arguably the most loaded team in the country.

Although he showed potential putting the ball on the floor from all over the court, Ellington could still stand to improve his slashing game. His left hand is almost non-existent, both driving and finishing, and you’d see defenses adjusting to this as the season goes on to make him more and more one dimensional.

Ellington could also stand to improve his defense, as he is already at a disadvantage as far as NBA scouts are concerned considering his height. He puts in a decent effort, but lacks fundamentals on this end, getting beat off the dribble too often and clearly struggling getting around ball-screens. This could very well end up being a deciding factor in how good of a prospect he is judged to be by the time he’s done with college basketball—will he project as an instant offense type to bring off the bench? Or possibly more than that if he expands his game. Playing at North Carolina, he’ll be in a great situation to prove himself, as he’ll be under the spotlight at all times.

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