[h1]WHITEHAVEN'S OCTAVIOUS ELLIS STILL COPING WITH MOTHER'S MURDER[/h1][h2]Standout basketball prospect finds mentor with coach[/h2]
When he was thrown out of a Memphis Summer Classic game against Southwind on Friday, many in the Memphis University School gym wondered aloud what had gotten into Whitehaven High senior forward Octavious Ellis.
Having already picked up one technical foul for showing his disgust when a referee-in-training wrongfully touched him, Ellis nearly lost it when the same referee kept jabbering at him from behind.
The 6-8 prospect with scholarship offers from
Auburn,
Mississippi State and
UTEP turned and balled his fist, his eyes burning with fury, then thought better of it. By that time, however, it was too late. The referee had hit Ellis with another technical, and he was ejected.
"I don't know what be going on. I don't know," Ellis said Saturday when asked about the incident.
For Ellis, life has been a long, hard journey since his mother, Traceye Ellis-Rudd, was shot in the face and killed by his stepfather, Kevin Rudd, on April 23, 2003.
Ellis and his two sisters, Sedondra and Nissa, were home during their mother's murder. Then just 10 years old, Ellis threw rocks at Rudd as Rudd ran away from their Whitehaven home.
"He was there," said Ellis' maternal grandmother, Flossie Ellis. "He said, 'Look at what you done did to my mama!' He ran behind him and was throwing rocks at him, saying, 'You done killed my mama!'"
Since her daughter's murder, Flossie, 56, has taken care of Ellis and his sisters. Although Ellis has undergone counseling to help him cope with the tragedy, Flossie said her grandson still frequently loses his temper, a result, she said, of the anger he harbors toward his stepfather.
"You see why he acts up? We've been through some stuff with that boy," Flossie said. "But I am so proud of him. If he can just maintain his temper and keep that under control. ... Some days can go real good, then (others) are like I don't know what."
Whitehaven head coach Lawrence "Scooter" Myers shook his head Saturday when asked how far Ellis has come both on and off the basketball court. The two have grown quite close since Ellis, now ranked the No. 131 overall prospect in the Class of 2011 by Rivals.com, arrived at Whitehaven from Havenview Middle.
"When I first met him, there were (high school) coaches in the gym, and they didn't really want him," Myers said. "They liked his upside, but they really didn't want him because they felt like he was going to be a problem.
"But I pulled him to the side and I told him, 'All you need is love and guidance, and I'm that guy that's gonna try to give it to you.' That's how he and I grew as tight as we are. He respected me and I respected him, and I told him I'm going to help him get to where he wants to be."
Flossie described Myers as the father figure Ellis had been without before his arrival at Whitehaven.
"Coach Scooter took him in just like he was his son and mentored him and was there with him and guided him and talked to him, even when he had personal problems," Flossie said. "Coach Scooter has really been fighting for him, going through a lot for him."
Having only played regularly since the eighth grade, Ellis' still growing basketball potential was on display again Saturday afternoon at MUS, where the rangy forward contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a 64-54 victory over Kirby.
Later in the day, however, against Bishop Byrne, Ellis was ejected for the second time in six Classic games after picking up a second technical foul from the bench.
"Attitude," Myers said. "It's like, he sees other players who can look and see their parents in the stands. And even though (Flossie) is his mom, he still wants to see his mom's (Traceye's) face, and that kind of bothers him. We started having issues last year, when he started getting a few techs.
"But it wasn't about the game itself. It was more about him and his mama."
