UC's Ellis named Division I transfer All-America
University of Cincinnati junior forward Octavius Ellis (Memphis, Tennessee/Trinity Valley College [Texas]) has been named to the Riley Wallace All-America Team and chosen as a finalist for the Riley Wallace Award, which is given to the top transfer in Division I college basketball.
The recipient of the 2015 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 3 in Indianapolis.
Ellis helped lead the Bearcats to their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, averaging a team-high 9.9 points and 2.0 blocks while tying teammate Gary Clark for team-high honors in rebounds (7.2).
Ellis was a second team all-league selection by coaches in the American Athletic Conference and an NABC second team All-District 25 honoree.
During his coaching career at Hawaii, Riley Wallace welcomed many transfers into the program, which helped him to become the winningest coach in Hawaii history. Wallace guided Hawaii to nine postseason appearances, including a school-record streak of four straight from 2001-04. The Warriors appeared in the NCAA Tournament three times under Wallace and have been invited to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on six occasions. Before his arrival, the program had just one NCAA appearance and two trips to the NIT.
2015 RILEY WALLACE ALL-AMERICA TEAM
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, 6-5, Jr., Illinois State
Dwayne Benjamin, 6-7, Jr., Oregon
Jaylen Bond, 6-8, Jr., Temple
Martin Breunig, 6-8, Jr., Montana
Aaron Bright, 5-11, Sr., Saint Mary's
Octavius Ellis, 6-10, Jr., Cincinnati
Bryn Forbes, 6-3, Jr., Michigan State
Trey Freeman, 6-2, Jr., Old Dominion
Juan'ya Green, 6-2, Jr., Hofstra
Danuel House 6-7, Jr., Texas A&M
Trevor Lacey, 6-3, Jr., NC State
Matt Lopez, 7-0, Sr., Rider
Sheldon McClellan, 6-5, Jr., Miami
Jameel McKay, 6-9, Jr., Iowa State
Stefan Moody, 5-10, Jr., Ole Miss
Mike Myers, 6-9 Jr., UMES
Deondre Parks, 6-1, Jr., South Dakota State
Gary Payton II, 6-3, Jr., Oregon State
Jordan Price, 6-5, So., La Salle
Rodney Pryor, 6-5, Jr., Robert Morris
Jeff Short, 6-4, Jr., Norfolk State
Evan Singletary, 6-1, Jr., Albany
Deville Smith, 6-1, Jr., UT Martin
TaShawn Thomas, 6-8, Sr., Oklahoma
Darien Walker, 6-3, Jr., Valparaiso
Kyle Wiltjer, 6-10, Jr., Gonzaga
NOTE: Due to a tie in the voting there are 26 players on the team.