Detroit East English Village’s Greg Elliott (3) goes up for shot against Detroit Northwestern on Feb. 12, 2016.
For three years, senior Greg Elliott found a way to fit in at East English Village.
He was sprinkled in with stars Karmari Newman, a Mr. Basketball finalist last year who is playing at George Mason.
Alpha male Nate Boleware was a consistent contributor at point guard and started four years on the football team. He’s playing football at Ferris State.
Then there was big man Cedrick Lattimore, who is a freshman defensive end on the Iowa football team.
“I treated him different than Karmari,’’ Bulldogs coach Juan Rickman said. “Karmari started as a freshman and I was starting the program. One thing I did with him I allowed him to grown. With G, I had all those guys so he had to get in where he could fit in. To get on the floor, he had to do all the intangibles.
“With G, I made him learn the game from the start. He had to rebound, defend, pass and do all the little things. As he got better, he already had the intangibles and he got better scoring the ball. Whereas Karmari’s development was a little backwards from what I normally do. We were teaching Karmari score, score, score. To be quite honest if I had to take one of them based on my team, I would probably take G. If I was starting a team I’d take him because he can influence the game in so many levels. He doesn’t have to score to be effective.’’
Elliott is a 6-foot-4 jumping jack who can play point guard, shooting guard and small forward. He thrives in the four-guard offense. The Bulldogs improved to 8-1 with a 71-57 victory over Detroit King on Tuesday. He scored 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
“My best position is probably the two (shooting guard),’’ Elliott said. “I can help my point guard do more. I can play the one, but since I’ve got Dave (DeJulius) now, I can play the two. I can play anything in the backcourt.’’
Newman terrorized opponents as one of the state’s best shooters last season.
“They’re about the same size, but G is more athletic,’’ Rickman said. “They’re different. I was proud of Karmari because he started rebounding and doing the other things.’’
Elliott recently lit up Flint Beecher for 46 points and blew out Detroit Pershing with 48.
His numbers have shot up to 32 points per game, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots per game. Shooting 51% from the field, he has caught the recruiting eye of Marquette, which recently offered, and he’s on Detroit Mercy’s radar.
“My role isn’t different, I just have do more,’’ Elliott said. “With (last year’s team), I didn’t have to do as much or score as much. With this team, I have to lead more, talk more. They look for me to do more.’’
Then he admitted his role had changed.
“I’m more of the leader on this team,’’ he said. “Everybody looks to me when they need something done.’’
From Newman, Boleware and Lattimore, he learned: “Not to get down on my teammates. Whenever I wasn’t playing well, they didn’t get down on me. That’s what I learned. Coach put me through everything me freshman year. He saw more in me than I did in myself. He had me playing defense. I was getting checked by the best defender. I worked on my ballhandling. I was always in the rebounding drills with the biggest people like Ced. Once I got used to it, everything came easy.’’
Help has come in the likes of DeJulius, who transferred from Detroit Edison and committed to Michigan after a 46-point outburst against Macomb Dakota, and Richoun Neely, who played at Madison Heights Madison last year.
“Playing with Greg is great; it makes my job easier as a point guard,’’ DeJulius said. “Defensively and offensively, he’s such a good player. He does the intangibles. We play fast-paced, so the faster the people we have out there, the better. I believe we are the best team in the PSL because we work so hard, not because of talent. We work on our craft, like running at 9:30 in the morning on Martin Luther King’s birthday.’’
Added Elliott: “The PSL is the best conference in Michigan. Night in and night out, you’re playing the best teams, the toughest teams. Which brings out the best in your team. It gets physical. In the off-season, we do a lot of stuff in the weight room. I might not be the biggest, but I’m strong and tough. I’m not going to let anyone punk me.’’