Former Cardinal great Pervis Ellison has been critical of the recruiting efforts of the current Louisville basketball staff, but his opinion contradicts reality.
Chris Mack, I’ve got your back. As do most Louisville basketball fans steeped in reality.
As expected, Rick Bozich’s Thursday article about former Cardinal great Pervis Ellison made a big splash. Bozich spoke with Ellison, who detailed, at length, his displeasure towards the current Louisville basketball staff for not recruiting his star player, DJ Wagner. Wagner is the grandson of former UofL star Milt Wagner and son of Louisville native and former Memphis and NBA star Dejuan Wagner.
Ellison says that neither Louisville head coach Chris Mack nor the rest of his staff has contacted him about his star pupil, who he claims is the best player in his class (2023) as well as the class of 2022. Ellison also maintains that Louisville basketball has not reached out to him about two other star players on his team, and that he still has a tenuous relationship with his former school.
Here’s an excerpt from the column where Ellison explains his side:
But Ellison said he has yet to take a phone call from the Cards’ staff. And, he thought that was … well, a lot of things.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?” Ellison said.
Strange is one word. Interesting is another. I asked Ellison if the lack of a phone call hurt this feelings.
“I don’t think about it like that,” he said. “Because I don’t have a relationship there. If there was a relationship, then I know there wouldn’t even be this situation.
“You know something is wrong. With the Butch Beard situation, you know there is stuff going on (at Louisville). There’s always been, since the (Rick) Pitino days, a disconnect with former players.
“That’s never been addressed. Because it was never addressed, it’s kind of just out there.”
Ellison’s relationship with Louisville since 2018
But here’s the thing, Louisville basketball has reached out to Ellison recently. They’ve reached out many times in a very public manner. And, according to those connected within Chris Mack’s inner circle, Louisville has reached out to all of Ellison’s current players.
Ellison sang a different tune when Bozich interviewed him after Louisville basketball landed one of his former proteges, Fresh Kimble.
“You are going to like Fresh. You know how he is like?” Ellison asked. “He’s just like the guy at Michigan State (Cassius Winston). He’s just like him. He plays just like him and he’ll be the smartest player on the floor. He’s what you want in the point guard.” He went on to tell Bozich that “Without a doubt, Louisville got a good one. Without a doubt.”
Two years ago this week, Ellison was working to help current Kentucky center Lance Ware become acclimated with his alma mater. He even visited the Louisville campus with Ware when he received his offer from Mack and his staff.
In December of the same year, Louisville hung a banner in the KFC Yum! Center and honored Ellison along with fellow Final Four MVPs Darryl Griffith and Luke Hancock. Griff and Hancock showed and were honored at halftime. Ellison had a previous engagement.
This June, Bozich noted that Ellison and Milt “skipped a reunion of (the 1986) Cards’ team at coach Denny Crum’s house.”
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An “odd” Louisville legend
“The notion that Chris Mack and UofL have not reached out to Pervis Ellison simply aren’t true,” 790 WKRD’s Nick Coffey posted on Twitter Thursday night.
On Friday morning, ESPN 680 morning radio host Drew Deener echoed these sentiments. “Somebody that I trust implicitly told me yesterday that this is absolutely not the case that Chris Mack has not reached out to Pervis Ellison. I don’t know if it was texts or calls, but (on) multiple occasions, he reached out with no response.”
“(Ellison) never shows up,” said Deener. “I know one person who waited at the airport for a flight that he was supposed to be on, and he did not arrive in Louisville and he didn’t return any phone calls.
“He’s a made man in Louisville lore, but he’s an odd made man in Louisville lore.”
And if you truly wanted to hear it for yourself, literally one of the first things Mack ever said as Louisville basketball head coach was that he wanted to get to know Ellison. He said Ellison was the reason he got into Louisville basketball as a kid.
“To the former players at Louisville: this is your program. You built it. I know what that’s like (because) I did the same thing- although, my brick would probably be a lot smaller up the road at Xavier. I want each of you all to know that there are no different eras. This is Louisville basketball and you were a big part and are the part in making it what it is today. From afar, I’ve admired so many of you over the years.
I hate recognizing individuals because I’m gonna leave some out. But I will recognize one guy who I know is not here because I’d probably see him above the crowd. Man, what really started to turn me on, when I was a kid, about Louisville basketball was Never. Nervous. Pervis. Dr. Dunkestein. I better stop because there’s a lot of guys in this room.
I want you guys to know that you are always welcome. That you don’t need an invitation because that’s what this is. To stop in at practice, to come to a game. At some point, when my wife picks out our house, you’ll all be welcomed over there as well.”
Fake outrage
Bozich’s own article confutes Ellison’s claims. He quite literally states that Louisville basketball assistant Mike Pegues was in New Jersey on Thursday to watch Ellison’s players.
“Mackenzie Mgbako, a forward ranked No. 4 by rivals.com and Aaron Bradshaw, a 7-footer considered the No. 20 player in that class by Rivals, are Ellison’s next two best players. On Thursday New Jersey Scholars competed in Atlantic City, N.J. U of L assistant coach Mike Pegues attended the event.”
As far as Louisville’s communication with the youngest Wagner? Things are likely not as contentious as Ellison makes them out to be.
Multiple sources close to the situation have shot down the idea that Mack hasn’t reached out, saying that Mack and Wagner have spoken via zoom.
Perhaps Mack and his staff haven’t reached out personally because they have already spoken to Wagner directly. Wouldn’t that be something?
Why now?
The looming question for me is why Ellison and the disgruntled players from the Crum regime have waited until the Mack “era” to make a big fuss about not being welcomed.
If it’s true that former players feel a divide, why wait nearly two decades to speak up?
Former Cardinal Butch Beard has led the charge, asking Louisville to strike his name from the record books due to poor race relations at UofL. Additionally. Beard has been openly upset that Louisville did not consider hiring alumnus and current Knicks assistant Kenny Payne instead of Mack.
“(Louisville) has been remiss and negligent in its hiring practices within the athletic department”, Beard said in January.
“You may think assistant coaches in these sports are sufficient, they are not,” he said. “Players need and want head coaches to confide in on real life issues on and off the court. Respect comes from the top; the head coach.”
At the time, Mack was considered a home run hire. ESPN’s Jeff Goodman called the hire a “perfect marriage” between the two parties.
“This has really made sense from the moment that Rick Pitino was jettisoned out of (Louisville),” Goodman said in March of 2018.
Not much was said until his hiring, but since Mack set foot on campus three years ago, former players have been more vocal than ever.
Why now? You be the judge.
I kinda agree with all the former players.
Why hasn’t more former players ( which majority are African American ) been offer jobs in the sports program across the board. When Rick was at Kyhe hired a lot of his former players and did so here until the Katina Powell scandal happened. So why not now
So you’re complaining that Mack hasn’t hired his former players that he’s coached here at Louisville? He’s been here a little over 3 years. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?