Former Indiana basketball player Jamarcus Ellis has passed away at the age of 38.
The Chicago Sun Times is reporting Ellis died early Friday in a car accident.
According to the report, Ellis is survived by three sons. He was no stranger to tragedy. His father was killed when he was 6 and his mother died of lung failure when he was 14.
In his lone season at IU, the ill-fated 2007-08 campaign, Ellis averaged 6.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 30.6 minutes per contest. He was dismissed from the team following that season that saw coach Kelvin Sampson get fired. The Hoosiers began 24-4 before losing four of five at the end.
Ellis was a Chicago native and product of Westinghouse High School. He led Westinghouse to the city title as a senior.
The 6-foot-5 guard came to IU in 2007 as part of a six-man recruiting class that ultimately included a pair of NBA guards — Eric Gordon and Jordan Crawford.
Prior to arriving at Indiana, Ellis was named the National Junior College Player of the Year after the 2006-07 season. That year he averaged 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game for Chipola (Fla.) Junior College, helping guide the team to a 33-3 record and a runner-up finish in the Junior College National Tournament.
He transferred to Oklahoma City University following his lone season in Bloomington.
Ellis was currently working as a paraprofessional at a school in the Chicago western suburbs.
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