Inside Boogie Ellis’ mission to prove everyone wrong

When you talk to junior guard Rejean “Boogie” Ellis, there’s a coolness about him. The way he talks is soft; he’s polite and mild-mannered when answering questions. 

But beneath him, there’s an intense drive. It can be set off easily, and when it is, it’s noticeable. 

In the middle of interviewing Ellis, his eyes shot up to the side — like a kid who hears an ice cream truck. His calm demeanor snapped and his eyebrows furrowed.

Ellis stopped to ask a question. 

“Are you guys playing right now?” he said. “I’m tryna shoot.”

Talking directly to a USC practice player making his way to the court, Ellis had just finished an hour-and-a-half long practice and a 20-minute weight lifting session. But he couldn’t stay relaxed. He wanted to get some extra reps. 

Ellis scored 21 points — a season high — on an efficient 8-for-10 shooting against UC Berkeley two days before. It was the first game the guard scored over 20 since USC’s season opener and the eighth 20-point game in his collegiate career.

Ellis lives to prove people wrong. He’s described as a workaholic and a “very driven individual” who loves to perform on the big stage. His excessive work out got to a point where his high school coach called Ellis’ dad to tell him the guard needed to take a break. 

“I had been getting calls from a couple of people that know me, and let me know he was up at the gym working,” Mission Bay High School coach Marshawn Cherry said. “We’ve had a few incidents like that where he’s supposed to be on break and he sneaks into the gym.” 

Ellis’ journey from a 4-star high school recruit to USC starter did not come easy. Even with the highs and lows of life, what stayed constant for Ellis was simple: He never stopped working. 

“I knew this ones gonna be freaking good”

Ellis started playing basketball at 5-years-old, mentioning the game stuck with him.

Growing up, he wasn’t the most athletic player though. Ellis relied more on his skill, working and working on developing his game. 

“Staying in the gym, working on my craft and getting better, then trying to get better and better every day,” Ellis said. “And staying hungry, eager to learn.”

That hunger and drive came from the people around him: His dad, older brother and grandpa had a large part in his development. To this day, his older brother gets on every little thing and pushes Ellis to his limits. While his grandpa was playing basketball, Ellis would stay in the car seat near him. 

Ellis came up under hard-working players too such as Trey Kell who went to San Diego State and Justin Moore who played at Georgia Tech. Ellis watched their work ethic and applied it, Cherry said.

Cherry witnessed Ellis’ evolution. He met the guard when Ellis was in sixth grade, coaching him all the way through high school. 

Cherry’s first encounter with Ellis when he was in sixth grade still sticks out 10 years later. Back then, Ellis played on Sweetwater High School’s freshman team against Cherry’s eighth-grade team. 

“We beat his team by 30, but he had about 20 points for them playing up three years. He was just out there competing,” Cherry said. “Right then, I knew that this ones gonna be freaking good.”

Ellis sacrificed to live up to the hype. As high school came around, he took it to another level. It was all about hooping.  

“My whole high school career, I didn’t go out that much. I was missing a lot of stuff. Throughout high school and in middle school, I had to sacrifice,” he said. “I will continue to sacrifice to get to where I want to be.”

Proving people wrong and committing to college

It was a junior varsity game during Ellis’ freshman year at Mission Bay. He had recently enrolled at the school, following Cherry who was an associate at the time. 

Cherry knew what Ellis was capable of, but the staff wanted him to prove it. Instead of playing on varsity, Cherry and then-coach Dennis Kane, decided junior varsity would be the move. 

Dropping 60 points, Ellis proved them wrong. He was moved to varsity immediately after the game. 

Something more than the point total stuck out for Cherry though, he saw Ellis’ certain motivation to prove everyone wrong.

Cherry said Ellis took it as disrespect that he was put on JV. And, most of the time, disrespect or fans doubting him is all it takes to tick Ellis off. 

He loves when he’s told another player is better than him. He loves when you count him out. He loves when the crowd starts to heckle him. It ignites that fire and passion inside of him to prove everyone wrong, ultimately leading to more hard work. 

Ellis was glued to the gym, putting up shots. While some families would vacation during the summer, he didn’t want to take a break. 

“In the summer, we’d set up a schedule where he worked out three times a day, five days a week,” Cherry said. “[Then] on weekends, you’d have games or tournaments.”

He wanted to succeed, but it took time. 

Ellis averaged 7 points per game in his freshman year and then, as a sophomore at Mission Bay, went 19-11.

As a junior, Ellis averaged 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists en route to an Open Division CIF title and being named San Diego Section Player of the Year. 

But Ellis was still an under-the-radar prospect. 

In 2018, Ellis decided to join the Nike Elite Youth Basketball Tournament, which houses a culmination of young basketball talent from across the country in an Amateur Athletic Union team structure of teams. Ellis joined the Oakland Soldiers in 2018, averaging 17 points while shooting 46% from deep.

For Ellis, he was excited for a chance to prove he was one of the top players in the country. 

The offers quickly fluttered in after the tournament: Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Arizona State and, of course, USC — the latter being the first Power Five conference school to offer him a scholarship. 

“We always liked him,” Head Coach Andy Enfield said. “He was developing as a player, but we loved his toughness and his speed and his scoring ability, and then he became a really good player.”

Ellis eventually committed to Duke in November 2018 but decommitted six months later after sophomore Blue Devils guard Tre Jones decided to return for another year. 

“I did what was best for me. You could say that a lot of people hated the decision, and it was whatever, but at the end of the day, I got to do what I got to do,” he said. “What they say doesn’t really matter.”  

A week-and-a-half later, Ellis committed to Memphis to play under former All-Star guard Penny Hardaway. 

Coming back home from Memphis 

That first college season was difficult for Ellis.

He began the year strong but fizzled out as the games went on. Back-to-back scoreless games and a 2-point outing prompted Hardaway to bench him mid-way through the season. 

“That was the kind of the first time in my whole entire life I really struggled with basketball, so it was a time for me to grow,” he said. “Then I came back the next year, and I feel like I got better.”

When you thought you had him, Ellis would make you say: “OK, maybe I’m wrong.” Ellis had 24 points in the first game next year then double-digit figures in six of the first seven games of the season. 

As the big games in March came around, Ellis rose. He dropped 27 against No. 7 Houston in the American Athletic Conference semi-finals then 23 in the NIT championship game. 

“I feel like I played well, but I still didn’t live up to what I was supposed to be,” he said. 

Two weeks after his final game, Ellis made the move back home, transferring to USC. 

After the Trojans’ top-scoring guard Tahj Eaddy declared for the draft, there became a need for the position. 

“I thought it was a great fit all around for him and for us,” Enfield said. “He’s really had a terrific season so far and he keeps improving. I think he’s going to get better and better as time goes on.” 

The 6-foot-3 guard’s offensive output has had double-digit points in 11 of the Trojans’ last 13 games. He also had back-to-back 21-point games against Cal and Arizona State.  

“There’s a lot of upside with him being a true point guard [and] league guard that can score because he’s developing into that,” Enfield said. “We think his potential has not been reached yet. We’re really excited to see.”

Ellis’ killer mentality, obtained from idols Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson, is evident when the clock nears zero. According to Ellis, he’s never missed a game-winning shot in his career. How true that will continue to be really remains up in the air. 

But if you know anything about Ellis, he’s probably telling the truth. When you count him out, he makes you remember your mistakes. The bigger the moment, the better Ellis plays.

When times get tough and doubts creep in during March Madness, it’ll be like Ellis is back in high school, missing parties to put up shots.

“[Anytime] that he thinks that you’re against him, he wants to make sure he proves you wrong,” Cherry said. “That’s his greatest motivation. With him is, if I challenged him, I know I got the best out of him.”