Dec. 28, 2011

Ella Ellis was expecting big things of himself when he joined the Army hoops program, but like many freshmen at West Point the first year is always the toughest.

"Plebe year was a very rough time for me,'' said Ellis, a native of Houston. "I committed late to West Point, and we went through a coaching change. I didn't perform the way I wanted to in my plebe year.''

Ellis, a forward, scored just 75 points in his rookie season and averaged less than 10 minutes per game. Coach Zach Spiker didn't sour on him, though, and provided encouragement in the offseason.

For the complete article by Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record click here