Then teammate Marissa Thrower told Ellis a family member said it was there. Ellis told Thrower she didn't have a clue.
Finally, Ellis went on the Marquette women's basketball website recently to look up some stats, and there it was: krystalellis20.,”Krystal Ellis' coaches probably told her about it first, but she wasn't paying attention. That's liable to happen, she said.
Then teammate Marissa Thrower told Ellis a family member said it was there. Ellis told Thrower she didn't have a clue.
Finally, Ellis went on the Marquette women's basketball Web site recently to look up some stats, and there it was: krystalellis20.com. "Oh my gosh," Ellis recalled thinking to herself as she gazed at the screen. "It's an actual Web site."
The site provides stats, photos, video and other information as a way to promote the junior guard for All-American status. Ellis was an Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention and All-Big East First Team selection last season.
While her coaches and teammates surely would love to see Ellis receive such national acclaim, they would settle for witnessing in their star attraction a greater aptitude to be a vocal leader.
In fact, the Web site is just another signal to Ellis that she is the face of the Marquette women's basketball team. That means leading strictly by action is no longer acceptable.
"I can't have bad days when I'm not talking," Ellis said. "I have to talk all the time on the court. It's been a long, fighting struggle, a very long fighting struggle. But I'm starting to get it. I see I'm changing as the games are going. I'm learning more. I think that's one of the hardest parts of the game is knowing that you have to step up and be the leader and let people look at you. I have no choice."
And that poses a seemingly significant problem because Ellis described herself as "not much of a talker."
It didn't use to be this way. Last season, she was surrounded by four seniors who knew what to say and when to say it. Ellis was responsible for her play on the court and little else when it came to building team cohesiveness.
This year, the Golden Eagles feature just one senior. More to the point, the team features six impressionable freshmen, which leaves Ellis with a large role to fill.
Marquette assistant coach Cara Consuegra said the process of turning Ellis into a more vocal leader is not over. Actually, she said, considerable progress did not begin to show until the team started losing.
After the Golden Eagles fell 65-63 to Northwestern Dec. 17 at the Al McGuire Center—the squad's fourth loss in seven games—Consuegra met with Ellis to discuss the guard's role on the team.
"I told her, 'Clearly your way isn't working,'" Consuegra said. "She started to realize that, and she said, 'OK, I'll do it your way.' "
Over the next three weeks, both parties began to notice changes. Consuegra said Ellis embraced freshman guard Angel Robinson, something Ellis hadn't done at the beginning of the season.
During a 71-69 loss Dec. 30 to then-No. 23 Arkansas, Ellis shot 3-of-16 from the field and finished with nine points, well below her season per game average of 19.6. Ellis said rather than going into a funk—typical of what she used to do&mash;she remained focused on defense and cheered on her teammates.
"That's when I realized that I can actually do it," Ellis said of being a vocal leader. "And that it's a good thing."
Consuegra said consistency in that department is the next step. On those days when Ellis doesn't feel good or doesn't want to say what needs to be said, that is exactly when she needs to speak up.
Her mission to gain All-American status may not depend on it, but her team's success down the stretch certainly does.
“