Ellis will sign with UAB

One of the worst kept secrets in the class of 2007 is no longer hush hush. Keenan Ellis is officially headed to UAB. The 6-foot-10 forward verbally pledged to Mike Davis on Monday night, according to Ellis's mentor Steve Ingram.

Dating back to Ellis's time in Indianapolis as a rising high school prospect, Davis targeted the long and lanky big man. That early impression stuck throughout the long process that has seen the 6-foot-10 prospect transfer to Ohio and now at American Christian in Philadelphia.

"He was just ready to get it over with," Ingram said. "Coach Davis has been with Keenan from the beginning, really since the eighth grade, and he's stuck by him through the thick and the thin."

Ellis has made it known that he has wanted to play for Davis and when the Alabama native returned to his home state, the opportunity to play at UAB presented itself. Ellis is the latest long and athletic forward to pick the Conference USA program. He'll suit up along side Walter Sharpe, a Mississippi State transfer, and Jeremy Mayfield, the prize of the 2006 UAB class.

"He's only going to grow under coach Davis," Ingram said of Ellis. "He's had success with big men like him before. When he coached Jared Jeffries at Indiana, he didn't put him in a box and say 'This is what you are and this is what you need to do.' He let him play his game and that helped with his marketability. Keenan is going to be similar to that."

Ingram said Ellis will sign with UAB during the early signing period, which begins tomorrow.