Reports: Texas G signee Emarion Ellis following Shaka Smart to Marquette

New Texas Longhorns head coach Chris Beard’s goal to succeed quickly on the Forty Acres took another potential hit on Tuesday with the news out of Iowa that Davenport Assumption guard Emarion Ellis is heading to the Marquette Golden Eagles to play for former Texas head coach Shaka Smart.

Stockrisers quickly confirmed the news.

Presumably, the report from Corey Rholdon and confirmation elsewhere means that Ellis has requested and received his release from the National Letter of Intent that he signed with the Longhorns back in November.

“Emarion is a very unique player with tremendous upside,” Smart said at the time. “His combination of size, length, and playmaking ability will allow him to be very effective in our system.”

Texas identified the 6’5, 175-pounder early despite the inability to scout him in person as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic after Ellis averaged 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per game as a junior.

A consensus four-star prospect, Ellis is ranked just outside the top-100 nationally and as the No. 7 combo guard nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Following Smart’s departure to his home state of Wisconsin, Texas has also lost two other members of the 2021 recruiting class — guard Tamar Bates and forward David Joplin. North Carolina product Keeyan Itejere, a high-upside forward, currently remains in the class, which added former Texas Tech wing signee Jalen Tyson last week.