Malik Ellison (born August 17, 1996) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Kauhajoen Karhu Kauhajoki Karhu Basket, is a Finnish professional basketball team from Kauhajoki. The team plays in Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball. In 2018, the club achieved their first Korisliiga title ever after defeating Salon Vilpas 4 ...

of the

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

St. John's Red Storm The St. John's Red Storm is the nickname used for the 17 varsity athletic programs of St. John's University, in the U.S. state of New York. St. John's 17 NCAA Division I teams compete in the Big East Conference, with the exception of the fencin ...

, the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

, and the

Hartford Hawks The Hartford Hawks are the NCAA Division III athletic teams of the University of Hartford, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Overview Division III On May 6, 2 ...

Early life

Raised in

Voorhees Township, New Jersey Voorhees Township is a township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is a suburb in the Delaware Valley / Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3 ...

, Ellison was nicknamed “Missile,” and attended

Life Center Academy Life Center Academy is a private school located in Burlington in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is associated with the Fountain of Life Center, an Assemblies of God church. The Headmaster is Matthew Boudwin, ...

in Burlington. He missed the beginning of his senior season with a broken tibia, not returning to the court until December 2014. In January 2015, Ellison scored 28 points and tallied in a 60–54 win against Orangeville Prep at the Spalding Hoophall Classic. As a senior, he averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Ellison committed to playing college basketball for St. John's, choosing the Red Storm over offers from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, Xavier and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

College career

Ellison started nine games as a freshman and averaged 7.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. As a sophomore, Ellison averaged 7.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. He transferred to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

after the season. Ellison made 16 starts as a junior and averaged 5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He provided energetic defense on the perimeter but struggled with his shooting, hitting 44.5 percent of his attempts from the floor, and his production declined during

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

play. Following the season, he transferred to

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

as a graduate transfer. Ellison missed the start of his senior season due to a sprained ankle. On January 25, 2020, he scored a career-high 31 points and had 12 rebounds in a 62–48 win over Albany. As a senior, Ellison averaged 18.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, and scored in double figures in all but three games. He was named to the First Team All-

America East The America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979, t ...

as well as receiving NABC All-District 1 honors.

Professional career

College Park Skyhawks (2021–2023)

After going undrafted in the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

, Ellison signed his first professional contract with

BC Kolín BC Kolín, for sponsorship reasons known as BK Geosan Kolín, is a Czech Republic, Czech professional basketball Club (organization), club based in the town of Kolín. They play in the National Basketball League (Czech Republic), Czech National Ba ...

of the Czech National Basketball League on September 29, 2021. However, he didn't play for them because he joined the

College Park Skyhawks The College Park Skyhawks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in College Park, Georgia, and are affiliated with the Atlanta Hawks. The Skyhawks play their home games at Gateway Center Arena at College Park af ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

the next month. In 14 games, he averaged 10.5 points and 4.9 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per game (.505 FG%, .423 3FG%, .640 FT%). On December 25, 2021, Ellison signed a 10-day contract with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

but did not appear in a game for the team during this stint. On January 4, 2022, Ellison was reacquired by the Skyhawks. On September 16, 2022, Ellison signed with Atlanta, but was waived on October 9. On October 22, he re-signed with College Park.

Kauhajoen Karhu (2023)

On August 28, 2023, Ellison signed with

of the

. On October 30, 2023, Ellison joined the

Santa Cruz Warriors The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...

, but was waived on November 18 without playing for them.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", St. John's , 24 , , 9 , , 21.3 , , .369 , , .318 , , .653 , , 2.5 , , 2.6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", St. John's , 33 , , 26 , , 24.8 , , .419 , , .341 , , .595 , , 3.3 , , 2.5 , , .9 , , .2 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 16 , , 21.0 , , .445 , , .188 , , .541 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .3 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 23 , , 35.0 , , .514 , , .154 , , .630 , , 9.7 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , 1.1 , , 18.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 111 , , 74 , , 25.1 , , .455 , , .304 , , .612 , , 4.6 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .4 , , 9.3

Personal life

Ellison is the son of

Pervis Ellison Pervis Ellison (born April 3, 1967) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nicknamed "Never Nervous Pervis" for his clutch play with the University of Louisville, after leading Louisville to a national championship, E ...

, who was the top pick in the

1989 NBA draft The 1989–90 NBA season, 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented play ...

. His mother Timi, ran track in college. Ellison's sister Aja played basketball at

and helped the team reach the Final Four. Another sister, Seattle, attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

on a track scholarship.

References

External links

Hartford Hawks bioPittsburgh Panthers bioSt. John's Red Storm bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Malik 1996 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Finland American men's basketball players Basketball players from Camden County, New Jersey College Park Skyhawks players Hartford Hawks men's basketball players Kauhajoen Karhu players Life Center Academy alumni Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Voorhees Township, New Jersey St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players 21st-century American sportsmen