Former Little Lion Keaton Ellis poised to take the next step at Penn State on and off the field
When Keaton Ellis returns to State High, it’s with plenty of fanfare.
Students and faculty alike come out to get pictures and speak with the hometown star — the kind of reaction usually reserved for Ellis’ head coach, James Franklin. The Penn State sophomore cornerback’s reception is well-deserved given the trajectory of his career, and it would be easy for him to scoff at people who seek those pictures and conversations.
Instead, he obliges. But he really wants to see the people who don’t get enough credit for helping him become who he is. The people who have led him to this moment — thanklessly, more often than not.
“He just absolutely made their day by stopping in to say hello,” State High head coach Matt Lintal said about a pre-pandemic visit. “When he walked in to see the lunch ladies, it was special. He’s a great kid.”
Ellis wanted to stop and see everyone who helped him along the way — from lunch ladies to custodians to teachers. That humility has helped him get where he is now — in the midst of a fight to earn the starting cornerback job across from Tariq Castro-Fields.
His humility, mentality and work ethic have already paid dividends for Ellis, who took a leadership role at State High and has begun to do the same at Penn State. During the ongoing fight against social injustice, Ellis took spoke to teammates about what his life was like. He — unlike nearly all of his Nittany Lions teammates — grew up in the area and knows what it’s like to be Black in State College.
The sophomore cornerback said he stepped to the forefront of that conversation because of his own experiences.
“People ask me questions about what it was like growing up here,” Ellis said. “This is my hometown. I’m trying to make it the best place it can be. If I have that platform, I like to use it.”
In order for Ellis to expand that leadership role, he’ll have to take on a bigger duty on the field. He’s competing with several classmates from the 2019 recruiting class for a starting cornerback position. The job — replacing long-time corner John Reid — is up for grabs among the group, with each presenting different skills.
Ellis’ skill set is an enticing one. He’s long and athletic with the tackling ability to have an impact in the run game and the size to stick with even the biggest receivers.
The sophomore is so versatile that Lintal can see him playing even deeper on the field at the next level.
“I think he’s an NFL safety to be honest with you,” Lintal said. “I don’t know that he has a ceiling. I think he’s an elite-level player. I think he’s got really good hips. Obviously he can run and when you have a guy with his skill set that’s also physical and can play behind his pads, that’s really, really a special combination. He’s a guy that can be a force in both the pass defense and also the run defense. So you’re not missing out on anything. He’s not afraid to come up and stick his nose in there.”
For now, he must focus on beating out those classmates — Joey Porter Jr., Marquis Wilson and Daequan Hardy — to earn his keep at Penn State. While Lintal saw the talent for the NFL early on, his contemporaries have seen Ellis make the improvement it takes to get there.
“I feel like he improved a lot over the last year,” Porter Jr. said. “His ball skills, him attacking the ball ... him being more physical. ... He’s a ball hawk. He goes and gets the ball wherever it’s at and that’s a good thing. I feel like he really improved on that from last year, which is amazing and what is needed for the team.”
His year-to-year improvement has been key to his football career. Ellis improved as a sophomore in high school and looked poised to take off as a junior before a hand injury early in the season kept him out until the Little Lions’ final game of the 2017 season.
Still, he returned in 2018 and made his mark as a senior, leading State High to a 12-2 record and an appearance in the state semifinals. That high school success quickly turned into college success. Ellis appeared in all 13 games last season and even made a start against Rutgers.
Those experiences have begun to shape Ellis as he enters this season fighting for the full-time job.
“It definitely helped a lot,” Ellis said. “Game experience, you can’t substitute that. In practice you get the reps, you get the mental reps, but that experience, it helps you slow the games down and be more confident.”
Earning that job won’t come easy. The other three competitors had their fair share of success as freshmen. Wilson picked off two passes and Hardy was named the Developmental Squad’s Defensive Player of the Year at the team awards banquet, while Porter Jr. is the son of former Pittsburgh Steelers player and coach Joey Porter.
All three bring plenty to the table and that’s helped fuel the competition — which hasn’t waned since it began after the 2019 season ended.
“The competition is at a high level,” Ellis said. “We’re going at it every day. Everybody is playing really well right now. ... It’s been really helpful that we have that competition because it makes everybody better. ... I’m really excited for this group.”
That doesn’t mean the group doesn’t get along. Each of the four players has their specific skills on the field and a few quirks off it. Most notably for Ellis — according to Porter Jr. — is his affinity for singing.
“Keaton’s a singer,” he said. “He likes to sing a lot. We catch him every day trying to sing something. It’s kind of funny when you catch him in that act. That dude’s a singer.”
Ellis can do all of the singing he wants for now. If he continues on the trajectory he set last season, it might soon be the NFL scouts singing his praises.
This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 2:33 PM.
