Boogie Ellis reveals why he switched jersey numbers this year

Boogie Ellis changed his jersey number when he joined USC this offseason via the NCAA Transfer Portal. The change might be subtle to most, but it brings Ellis, a San Diego-native, back to his basketball roots.

“Honestly, I’ve been 5 my whole entire life. 0 was the first time I wore that number, so I’ve just been 5 my whole life. Ever since I started playing basketball,” Ellis said on Trojans Live. “It was kind of a change when I got here, but I’m glad to be back.”

Given the fact that Ellis has worn that number his entire basketball career before college, one would believe there to be a personal significance of that number to him. That assumption, however, would be incorrect.

“Not really, it’s just been my number ever since I was a baby, honestly,” he said.

Familiarity breeds comfortability, so theoretically the switch back to jersey number 5 would enhance Ellis’ skills even more since joining the Trojans from Memphis over the offseason. The switch has seemed to pay off, too, as Ellis is currently the Trojans leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points per game while also leading the team in three-point percentage at 36.5 percent.

The Trojans haven’t lost since they left the Bahamas, where Ellis averaged 21 points over three games in Atlantis, going 3-0 including two conference victories. USC face Long Beach State in their next matchup before hosting No. 19 Auburn this weekend.

“We’ve got a big test on Sunday, but you know that you have to take that game by game, we gotta beat Long Beach Wednesday and then Sunday’s gonna be a good game for us,” Ellis said. “It’s a Quad-1 win game, it’s gonna help our resume, pretty much a resume game for March.”

Tip-off between the Tigers and Trojans is set for 2:30 p.m. PT live on ESPN.