Senior Malik Ellison has helped Flint Beecher win two state titles since being thrust into the role of starting point guard as a freshman.
Malik Ellison had to replace a legend at Flint Beecher.
Monte Morris had just won Mr. Basketball and was moving on to Iowa State as the Cyclones’ starting point guard.
Back at Beecher, Ellison was thrust into the starting lineup as a freshman by coach Mike Williams. He had his moments, good and bad.
But two state championships later — including “The Shot,” a three-pointer at the buzzer that propelled Beecher over Detroit Loyola in a Class C semifinal — Ellison is still looking to make his mark.
So the incoming senior attended the MHSAA Reaching Higher Showcase in Milford for another year.
“It’s an opportunity to get better and further my game more,” Ellison said. “It gives me a chance to get out and play against the best players in the state and put a name out there for myself. I know I made a name for myself with the shot, but I’m trying to get my name out there some more.”
As far as the shot, which helped Beecher to another state title, he said: “That was crazy. It was just God looking down on us. It was just a great shot, I guess. I can’t even explain it.”
Ellison didn’t have a senior to mentor him with Morris gone.
“Coach Mike coached me up from Day 1,” Ellison said. “He took me under his wing. I didn’t know what people expected out of me. Our star point guard (Morris) left us. I had to take on the role of being a leader my ninth-grade year. After that he helped me with his coaching, and he has made me the player I am today.”
■Mr. 231:That’s what they call Deyonta Davis in Muskegon these days.
His high school coach, Keith Guy, said: “He went in the second round, he was the 31st pick, and 231 — that’s our area code.”
Guy said Davis is pleased with how the draft went, even though he fell through the first round and had left the Green Room in Brooklyn that night.
“Memphis traded up to get him, and he has two great veterans he can learn from in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph,” Guy said.
“Zach was MSU’s last one-and-done, so it was in the stars. (Leaving) wasn’t a goal. It was a thought that it could happen. He wasn’t going to rush it.”
Memphis already has given Davis guaranteed money and, despite the plantar fasciitis injury he’s rehabbing, the future looks bright.
“He told me, ‘Coach, I’m happy,’ ” Guy said. “We met with his grandmother, great grandmother, who passed away. She was kind of the driving force in the family and the decision-maker. It was her wish that he’d go. He thought it was time, and they supported him leaving.”
Guy agreed that Davis’ ceiling is as high as any of the first-round picks.
“I think that’s what the NBA teams see,” Guy said. “I think he knows he can get in and play. He’s in a place where they wanted him.”
Contact Perry A. Farrell: 313-222-2555 or pafarrell@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @farrellperry.