Ellington Declares For NFL Draft, Will Not Complete Basketball Season

Jan. 3, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – University of South Carolina senior guard Bruce Ellington, also a junior wide receiver for the Gamecock football team, has declared for the NFL Draft, it was announced today. Ellington, who graduated in December, will begin preparing for the draft and will not complete his final season with the men’s basketball team.

“I would like to thank Coach Spurrier, Coach Horn and Coach Martin for giving me the opportunity to play both football and basketball at South Carolina,” said Ellington. “I also want to thank all the Gamecock fans and my teammates for the past four years in Columbia. It’s been a great experience and I’ve been truly blessed.”

“I’m extremely happy for Bruce and the decision that he is making,” South Carolina head basketball coach Frank Martin said on Friday. “He’s a winner and he is going to utilize this as taking the first step of the next chapter of his life. All of us at South Carolina should be ecstatic that a young man his age has given so much of himself to represent this University athletically, socially and academically in a first class way.”

Ellington concludes his career on the hardwood for the Garnet and Black with 80 career games played and 66 starts. He scored 893 points for an 11.3 points per game average. The Moncks Corner, S.C., native averaged 3.0 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 30.4 minutes per game. Ellington posted 39 double-figure scoring games in his career, including eight 20-point games and one 30-point effort, a career high 31 points at Furman during his freshman season of 2010-11.

The Gamecock men’s basketball team hosts South Carolina State on Friday night at 7 p.m., before beginning SEC play on Jan. 8 at Florida. The contest vs. the Gators will tip at 7 p.m. and will be televised on CSS.