BOULDER — One of Australia’s top young basketball prospects toured the Colorado campus with his family Thursday and said he is strongly considering CU.
Cody Ellis, a 6-foot-8 forward and the star of Australia’s under-19 national team, is a senior at the Australian Institute of Sport in Sydney and expects to sign a national letter of intent during the spring signing period in April.
Ellis previously visited Wake Forest and is scheduled to complete his trip with a visit to Saint Louis University. Ellis said he can handle the ball and shoot well from outside and is comfortable playing inside or outside.
“Education, as well as basketball, is important to me, so I’m visiting good schools,” Ellis said Thursday. “I like Colorado a lot. I watched practice, and it was pretty intense. I could definitely fit in.”
With the NBA having become wildly popular in Australia, Ellis said he first became familiar with CU coach Jeff Bzdelik several years ago while watching telecasts of Nuggets games. Ellis said Carmelo Anthony is one of his favorite players.
Saint Louis is coached by Rick Majerus, who coached the most famous Australian basketball player, Andrew Bogut, while they were at the University of Utah.
At AIS, Ellis is a teammate of Shane Harris-Tunks, a 6-11 center who signed with Colorado in November. Ellis, from Perth in western Australia, played youth basketball against CU freshman point guard Nate Tomlinson, who is from Sydney on the east coast.
Ellis said he has no timetable for picking a college.
“We’re going to go back to Australia and sit down as a family and go over the pros and cons of all the colleges,” Ellis said. “I’m going to make the decision at home.”
NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from talking about recruits until they have signed letters of intent.
Footnote.
Sophomore forward Casey Crawford, who missed the Dec. 10 game against Colorado State with an ankle sprain, was able to complete every practice drill for the first time Thursday and has been cleared to play in tonight’s game against visiting Prairie View A&M (3-7).
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
