LaPhonso Ellis

LaPhonso Ellis is a college basketball analyst who worked for ESPN from 2009 to 2023. In 2019, Ellis was named an analyst on College GameDay Covered by State Farm, joining host Rece Davis and analysts Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg on the road each Saturday.

Prior to ESPN, he served as the color commentator on men’s basketball radio broadcasts for his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.

Ellis was the fifth overall selection in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets and was named to the 1992 All-Rookie First Team. In his second year, Ellis helped Denver make history as the Nuggets became the first No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in Seattle. After leaving the Nuggets in 1998, Ellis played two seasons in Atlanta, one season in Minnesota and two seasons in Miami, before retiring after the 2003 season.

At Notre Dame, Ellis helped lead the Irish to the NCAA Championship in both his freshman and sophomore seasons and to the title game of the 1992 NIT, all under Digger Phelps. Through his career, he scored 1,505 points and ranks third in rebounding with 1,075 boards – one of only four players to do so. He is the only player in school history to lead the team in blocked shots in each of his four seasons at Notre Dame. He blocked a school-record 200 shots.

Ellis graduated from Notre Dame in 1992 with a degree in accounting from the undergraduate college of business. He was a standout high school basketball player for East St. Louis Lincoln High School, where he led the Tigers to two straight Class AA boys’ championships in 1987 and 1988. Ellis was named a Parade Magazine and McDonald’s All-American in 1988.