Boo Ellis

{{Short description|American basketball player (1936–2010)}}

{{distinguish|text=Bo Ellis, a professional basketball player in the 1970s}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Boo Ellis

| image =

| width =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 5

| weight_lb = 185

| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|02|11}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|05|06|1936|02|11}}

| death_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

| high_school = Hamilton (Hamilton, Ohio)

| college = Niagara (1955–1958)

| draft_year = 1958

| draft_round = 3

| draft_pick = 16

| draft_team = Minneapolis Lakers

| career_start = 1958

| career_end = 1966

| career_number = 23, 12, 30

| career_position = Power forward

| years1 = {{nbay|1958|start}}–{{nbay|1959|end}}

| team1 = Minneapolis Lakers

| years2 = 1960–1962

| team2 = Wilkes-Barre Barons

| years3 = 1962–1963

| team3 = Allentown Jets

| years4 = 1963–1966

| team4 = Wilmington Blue Bombers

| highlights =

• EPBL champion (1963)
• EPBL Most Valuable Player (1961)
• All-EPBL First Team (1961)
• All-EPBL Second Team (1962)
• NCAA rebounding leader (1958)
• No. 3 retired by Niagara Purple Eagles

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 607 (5.1 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 616 (5.2 rpg)

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 86 (0.7 apg)

}}

Alex "Boo" Ellis (February 11, 1936 – May 6, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).{{Cite web| title = Alexander (Boo) Ellis| work = NBA.com| publisher = Turner Sports Interactive, LLC.| url = http://www.nba.com/historical/playerfile/index.html?player=boo_ellis| access-date = January 22, 2011}}{{Cite web| title = Boo Ellis NBA stats| website = Basketball Reference| publisher=Sports Reference LLC|url = https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/ellisbo01.html| accessdate = December 18, 2023}} Ellis played in the league for just the {{nbay|1958}} and {{nbay|1959}} seasons and averaged 5.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Ellis grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, and attended Hamilton High School.{{Cite news |last=Conrad |first=Pete |date=May 8, 2010 |title=Hamilton basketball legend "Boo" Ellis dies |url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/hamilton-basketball-legend-boo-ellis-dies-694167.html |access-date=January 22, 2011 |work=Dayton Daily News}} He led the school to 25–3 record and a 1954 state championship as a senior, garnering first team all-state and state tournament MVP honors that year. Ellis then went on to play college basketball for Niagara University.

A {{height|ft=6|in=5}}, 185 lb. forward/center, he quickly became a dominant force in both scoring and rebounding. Since the rules back then did not allow freshmen to play varsity sports, Ellis had to wait until his sophomore year in 1955–56 to suit up officially for the Purple Eagles. In his three seasons, he accumulated 1,656 points and a still-standing school record 1,533 rebounds.{{Cite web| title = Alex Ellis, NU's Leading Rebounder, Passes Away| work = PurpleEagles.com| publisher = Niagara University| date = May 7, 2010| url = http://www.purpleeagles.com/sports/mbball/release.asp?release_id=12242| access-date = January 22, 2011| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718160459/http://www.purpleeagles.com/sports/mbball/release.asp?release_id=12242| archive-date = July 18, 2011}} In his first season of eligibility, Ellis grabbed a school single season record 485 rebounds, only to break his own record the next two consecutive years with 522 and 526, respectively. During a game against Kent State in his junior year, he recorded a 31-point, 31-rebound effort. In Ellis' final season, he led NCAA Division I in rebounding and was named the Western New York Athlete of the Year.{{Cite web | title = 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records | work = 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide | publisher = National Collegiate Athletic Association | year = 2009 | url = http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/D1.pdf| access-date =January 22, 2011}} He also guided the Purple Eagles to two National Invitation Tournament (NIT) berths in his three-year career.

Following his standout collegiate career, the Minneapolis Lakers selected him as the first pick in the third round (16th overall) in the 1958 NBA draft. After two NBA seasons, Ellis played seven seasons in the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL). He won an EPBL championship with the Allentown Jets in 1963.{{cite web |title=1962-63 Allentown Jets Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/t-CBAALJ/y-1962 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=March 5, 2025}} Ellis was selected as the EPBL Most Valuable Player and a member of the All-EPBL First Team in 1961 and to the All-EPBL Second Team in 1962.{{cite web |title=Boo Ellis minor league basketball statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-ellisboo001 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=February 15, 2025}} He also played three seasons with the Marcus Haynes Fabulous Magicians, a traveling professional team. In his later life, Ellis worked as a security guard in his hometown of Hamilton. He spent two and a half years of his life living with his daughter in Indianapolis, before succumbing the effects of a heart attack he had suffered two weeks earlier. Ellis died on May 6, 2010, at age 74.