Granger, Ellis find Division I homes

A loss last month in the Class 4A supersectional at Northern Illinois won't be the final on-court memory for Elgin point guard Jeremy Granger.

The 6-foot-2 senior committed Saturday to play college basketball at Eastern Illinois University, the school he'd had his sights set on ever since the Panthers first reached out to him.

"They were the first team to start recruiting me, so you always show the team that recruits you first the most love," Granger said. "That's where my heart was, so that's what I wanted to do."

Granger averaged 17 points and 5.2 rebounds a game for the Maroons and helped lead Elgin to its first sectional championship in a decade.

Granger was among the top three scorers in the area before a hyper-extended elbow suffered in mid-December caused his scoring average to dip while he played through the pain.

"They're not going to ask him to score," said Elgin coach Mike Sitter, who accompanied Granger on a visit to Charleston. "They just need a point guard who can get them into the offense. They have a lot of slashers and shooters and post players coming back. It was readily obvious that they had no point guard.

"So they brought in Jeremy and another point guard form junior college to get the job done. There's playing time for him immediately if he takes advantage of it."

Said Granger of playing right away: "I think the opportunity is there, but nothing comes easy so I'm going to go in there and work for it."

Ellis to Eastern Kentucky: Athletes get recruited to colleges in funny ways sometimes.

Former Larkin star Dayvon Ellis, in part, has one of his teammates at Kaskaskia Junior College to thank for inadvertently helping him land a college scholarship.

"One of the coaches saw me on a tape that another one of my teammates sent to Eastern Kentucky," said Ellis, a point guard who averaged 15 points and 5 assists last season for Kaskaskia (23-8). "Ever since then, they've been on me."

An honorary co-captain of the 2006-07 Daily Herald all-area team, Ellis committed to EKU on Saturday night, fulfilling his lifelong ambition.

Ellis had many offers from which to choose, including Youngstown State, Texas-San Antonio, Texas-Pan American Morehead State, Southern Illinois and Evansville.

During a visit two weeks ago to the Richmond, Ky., campus, Ellis realized playing right away was a strong possibility with the Colonels.

"I chose Eastern Kentucky because of the situation," Ellis said. "They have a good team and they needed me to come in right away and run the show. I've only got two years left, so I'm glad I found a good situation where I can come in right away and start playing.

"This was what I always wanted to do and it's finally about to happen, so I'm really excited about it."