CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois men’s basketball coach Scott Nagy announced the addition of transfer guard Elijah Elliott on Tuesday. Elliott comes to Southern Illinois after spending last season at Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Elliott joins guards Ali Dibba, Drew Steffe, Damien Mayo Jr., Davion Sykes, and Tyler Bey as well as forwards Jaheem Webber, Rolyns Aligbe, and Jorge Moreno in the recruiting cycle.
“Elijah fills a need that we desperately had, a lead guard that is tough, can really handle pressure and can score,” Nagy said. “He will be one of three seniors on our team, and we expect him to give us great leadership.”
Elliott led the Vaqueros in scoring last season at 16.6 points per game to go with 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He scored in double-digits in 27 games including nine 20+ point games. The Houston, Texas native dropped in a career-high 40 points on the road at Stephen F. Austin.
He began his collegiate career at Oklahoma Christian where he earned All-Lone Star Conference Third Team and Lone Star Conference All-Freshman honors after averaging 155 points, 4.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in 18 starts. Elliott transferred to Mount Saint Mary’s where he saw action in 17 games off the bench, averaging 5.1 minutes per game.
In 2022-23, Elliott earned NJCAA Division I All-American honors after averaging 16.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.2 steals while shooting 42.6% from the field, 34.1% from behind the arc, and 67.3% from the foul line in 30 games.
Elliott played his prep basketball at Jack Yates High School where he helped the program set a national prep record by scoring 100 or more points in 21 consecutive games during his senior season. In his final season, he averaged 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.3 steals per game for a team that went 26-3 and advanced to the Texas Class 4A semifinals (with its 23rd-straight win) before the rest of the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He earned All-District 23-4A honors and was named to the UIL 4A Regional III All-Tournament Team.
