Brooks: Makenzie Ellis Revels In Role As Extra-Effort Buff

BOULDER – Makenzie Ellis' freshman season in the Colorado women's basketball program has been all over the chart, which isn't unusual for a first-year player. What is unusual, though, is that her bumps in the road were encountered after a fairly smooth start.

But here's the good news: that early rough stretch hasn't altered Ellis' course. The better news: The last several weeks have seen her even travel beyond the non-conference proficiency that excited coach Linda Lappe and her staff.

A 6-2 forward from Tulsa, Okla., Ellis showed up with enough pluck in her game to make three early season starts. Recalled Lappe: “She was bringing that hustle, she was scrappy, was everywhere on the floor, getting deflections. Plus, she understood the offense.”

Then, it was like a switch had been flipped. “She went through a period where she wasn't doing those things,” Lappe said. “And she saw her minutes decrease.”

Why the drop off?

Lappe was puzzled, but in retrospect she reasoned that Ellis might not have been completely back to form from an ACL injury that sidelined her for her senior season at Booker T. Washington High in Tulsa. She suffered the knee injury on Oct. 23, 2014, underwent surgery on Nov. 7, then signed with the Buffs less than a week later.

“It takes about a year and a half to get your confidence back and your feet back under you,” Lappe said. Plus, Lappe believed that the normal rigors of freshman acclimation to campus life and Ellis understanding her role on the team might have suddenly settled hard on Ellis.

“It's hard for freshmen to adjust even if they don't think it is,” Lappe said. “She's a great student (but) was probably under stress . . . it took a semester to understand how she can have a huge impact on this team.”

Over the last several weeks, that seems to have cleared up for Ellis. She's played in all of CU's 23 games, averaging 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds. But in her last three outings, she's scored six, six and nine points to go with seven, three and five rebounds. Her nine points in CU's most recent game – a 76-68 home loss to Utah – were a career high.

But numbers aside, Ellis' biggest contributions might have come in her ability to extend possessions by chasing down long rebounds and loose balls, winning the “50-50” effort plays that the stat lines don't mention. She's doing those things, Lappe noted, with the kind of unselfishness that coaches wish they could order in bulk.

Lappe calls Ellis “one of the most unselfish players we have . . . a fine example of not getting as much playing time as she would have liked (but) she didn't complain or put other players down. She continued to get better, work and have a great attitude.”

THAT WAS SECOND NATURE for Ellis, whose return to full speed from the ACL injury now seems to be in the final stages. Lappe can identify with players overcoming serious injury issues. As a CU player in the early 2000s Lappe was a finalist for the V Foundation Comeback of the Year award after injuries cost her major playing time in her sophomore and redshirt junior seasons.

“When you've been out a year you don't take days for granted, seasons for granted,” Lappe said. “You don't take being on the floor for granted. You remember the times when you were dying to be out there and you couldn't. Sometimes when that's taken away it makes you a better player. You have a different sense of urgency.”

Ellis finally has been able to lose the bulky knee brace she wore early in the season in favor of a “sleeve” that allows her more mobility. She calls the lighter support “so helpful” and said it has enhanced her speed and defense.

And there's a mental bonus, she added: “I'm regaining that confidence, knowing what I can do, getting those extra possessions, rebounding hard . . . I'm telling myself, 'Effort, effort, effort' and going hard all the time. It's leading to good things.”

But sometimes the good things a player eventually shows on the court need clarity, a kick-start, if you will. In Ellis' case, both came from a heart-to-heart with Lappe.

Ellis knew what she had done early to earn more minutes: “I knew I was coming in for good defense and rebounds. That's what I had in my head, and for a while I did get away from that. But I talked with coach and asked what she wanted me to do, what's my role? She told me, and knowing that and coming in every game and doing my job led to being successful.”

Moreover, said Lappe, “She's really taken her role seriously. We've had discussions about (roles), how each player can help this team. For her, we talked about helping us get extra possessions defensively, knocking down open shots. It doesn't take anything – just hard work. She's doing so many great things for us right now. She's dialed in, focused.”

Ellis, who averaged 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds as a high school junior, initially committed to TCU but changed her mind following a coaching change at the Texas school. She had played club basketball at Cy-Fair with current CU freshman Kennedy Leonard, who dropped the Buffs' name when she knew Ellis had reopened her recruitment.

“There was that connection,” Lappe said, “then we knew she was somebody who would fill a need for us.”

ELLIS HAS ATTEMPTED ONLY six 3-pointers, making one, but Lappe believes Ellis' role in that area will expand: “She can shoot the three . . . we recruited a lot as a three-point shooter but also knew that she was a tough, hardnosed kid that you need.”

That was apparent when Ellis participated in CU's camp, and when Lappe spoke with Ellis' parents it also became apparent that Makenzie came from good stock. Christine and Matney Ellis – her father introduced her to hoops – were positive people, Lappe said, “and the way she looks at life really helps her, especially when adversity hits. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.”

Ellis and the young Buffs play at No. 8 Oregon State on Friday night (8:30 p.m. MST) and at Oregon on Sunday (5 p.m. MST). Both games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

The Beavers have won 10 straight and 11 of their last 12 games, including a 61-47 win in Boulder on Jan. 24. Two nights earlier, the Ducks defeated the Buffs 59-46.

CU's shot at redemption against the Oregon schools will be difficult. OSU is 20-3 overall and 11-1 in conference, tied for first with Arizona State. Oregon is 17-6, 6-6.

After posting its first Pac-12 win – 66-63 over USC on the final day of January – and breaking a 10-game losing streak, CU has dropped two straight and 11 of its last 12 games.

Reversing that trend will be painstaking, but nothing Ellis isn't accustomed to. When her father steered her toward basketball, she said one of his motives was to bring his ultra-shy daughter “out of my shell . . . at first I first said, 'No,' then I gave in to him and have loved it ever since.

“I've been a hard worker; I put everything into it and fell in love with the game. I didn't start off the best player. Some kids start off athletic with a lot of skills. I had to work hard and it's really paid off.”

Her coach and teammates believe the bigger payoff is still out there.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU