Kansas basketball: What is Perry Ellis’ legacy in Lawrence?

Perry Ellis‘ career is finally coming to a conclusion, so what kind of legacy did he leave with Kansas basketball?

The clock hit zero in the second half of Saturday night’s Kansas versus Villanova Elite Eight game and with Kansas coming away on the losing side of things, Perry Ellis walked off the floor one last time bearing “KANSAS” across the front of his chest.

Related Story: Brice Johnson is almost a UNC legend

His final stat-line in that game? Four points, five rebounds on 1-of-5 shooting. It was his lowest scoring output of the season. It was the second-fewest shot attempts he has received in a game this season. It was an absolute anomaly for a player like him to have a game like that on the biggest stage he’s ever played on.

But it absolutely should not effect the legacy he’s left at the University of Kansas.

Now that all is said and done, Ellis has finished eighth on the Jayhawks’ all-time scoring list (1,798), and 12th on the all-time rebounding list (834). Ellis’ 1,798 total points also ranks as the second-highest, behind Sherron Collins, among players in the Bill Self era, which is generally regarded as one of Kansas’ most successful eras.

And while Ellis might be the best player of the Self era at Kansas, he is surely the most under-appreciated.

Ellis came into Lawrence as a quiet, emotionless player who was supposed to fill the absence left by All-American Thomas Robinson heading to the NBA Draft. While it didn’t necessarily work out as such, Ellis was still impressive, and really came on towards the end of the season, earning MVP of the Big 12 Tournament, a weekend-long performance that included a 23 point outing against Iowa State in the semifinals.

More from Busting Brackets

• NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 4 teams for PF Jaxon Johnson
• NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 5 teams for top-100 SG Larry Johnson
• Oregon Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24
• Big East Basketball: Ranking all head coaches going into 2023-24 season
• Florida State Basketball: Is Seminoles roster good enough to win in 2023-24?

Ellis shot just 54 percent at the rim that season, a mark he would shatter in every other season he played at Kansas. Mostly everyone knew that once he put on some weight over the summer, he would be a major part of the Jayhawks the following season.

And he sure was. Ellis led the 2013-14 Jayhawks, a team that included Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, in offensive rating. He was arguably Kansas’ most steady player throughout the season and had a 24 point performance against Rodney Hood, Jabari Parker and Duke. Yet he still never seemed to get the recognition he deserved.

After that season, Ellis continued to be unappreciated as he put up rather modest numbers in the one season when he finally regarded as the Jayhawks’ best player. Thanks to the team underachieving, Ellis still was left without much credit.

The senior forward finally got the recognition he deserves this season. He won’t win the Wooden Award, that’s a two-man race between Buddy Hield and Denzel Valentine, but he was named one of the 10 finalists for it earlier today. He was also named a second-team NABC All-American. He averaged almost 17 points and six rebounds per game this year, and was extremely efficient from everywhere on the floor.

And that’s what his legacy should be. Not someone who had a disappointing final game. Not someone who never played in a Final Four. And most definitely not someone who was just a pretty good player. Ellis is a fantastic player who had a fantastic career, and his name will surely be hanging in the rafters at Allen Fieldhouse some day.

He’s been a stalwart at the four spot in the Jayhawks lineup for three-plus seasons now. It seems like he’s been there for so long that fans of all kinds have made jokes about his age.

People even went as far as to change his age on his Wikipedia page.

But we all know Ellis hasn’t been around any longer than anyone else. He’s just been a big-time contributor to Kansas for a long time. And in an era of one-and-done players, it’s extremely rare for players to be major contributors at their schools for four years. It’s even more rare when it’s at a school like Kansas.

Next: Five most exciting double digit Cinderella's of all time

Obviously, he was doing something right.