After a discouraging first couple of years to his collegiate career, John Ellenwood found his niche at The College of Wooster that not only culminated into an All-American senior season, but a new perspective on life.
As a highly-touted recruit at Sylvania Northview High School in the Toledo area, Ellenwood initially accepted a scholarship to NCAA Div. II Lake Superior State University. He was red-shirted his first year, then midway through the 1996-97 season came to the realization that “it wasn’t a great fit,” and made the call to coach Steve Moore, who had hoped Ellenwood would enroll at Wooster previously.
Ellenwood’s mid-season transfer resulted in modest dividends. Having lost confidence, he averaged 3.3 points and 3.8 rebounds, not exactly a harbinger of what was to come from the power forward.
The coaching staff was patient and saw gradual improvement that initial semester, and “Woody,” as he was affectionately known as by teammates and fans alike, added about 10 pounds of muscle to his 6-6, 215-pound frame.
Continued adjustments to the Fighting Scots’ system and the hard work in the weight room led to Ellenwood becoming a force as a sophomore. He formed a potent 1-2 punch in the post with fellow “W” Association Hall-of-Fame inductee Ryan Gorman and wound up as the team’s leading scorer at 13.3 points a night coming on a then-school record 65.9 field-goal percentage. Ellenwood also averaged 7.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks, while helping Wooster to a North Coast Athletic Conference championship. Individually, he gained the first of three consecutive first-team all-NCAC laurels.
Ellenwood put up nearly identical numbers his junior season – team-high 13.8 points, 65.9 percent from the field, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks – and the Scots captured the NCAC championship again. He excelled during the postseason, notching NCAC Tournament MVP honors, then scoring 21 points in an NCAA Div. III Championship second-round game to put Wooster into the sectional semifinals.
With Gorman’s graduation, there was some question as to whether Ellenwood and the team could replicate that type of success in 1999-00. While Ellenwood’s final statistics were remarkably similar again – team-high 13.5 points, 62.2 percent from the field, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks – it was his leadership that paved the way for arguably an even better campaign for the Scots. They became the first team (and remain the only) to go through the NCAC’s regular season undefeated (16-0) and win the league’s postseason tourney. With the closest margin of the three games being 23 points, Ellenwood repeated as NCAC Tournament MVP, the first to do so, and Wooster made another run to the NCAA’s Round of 16 before falling to the eventual national champs.
Ellenwood capped his career with second-team All-American recognition from the NABC, and his final stat line reads 1,203 points (No. 11 at Wooster upon graduation), a still-standing conference record 63.8 field-goal percentage, and 122 blocks (No. 4 at Wooster).
While his on-court accomplishments are certainly impressive, Ellenwood, who was an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient and later named to the NCAC All-Decade Team (1993-04), reflects on his time with the Scots in another way. “I learned early on in my playing career that Wooster basketball was more than just basketball. Because of Coach Moore and his philosophies, Wooster basketball helped establish the ethical beliefs and discipline to help me succeed in life.”
Ellenwood, who majored in psychology with a minor in education, has carried that to a very successful coaching career himself. After a couple of assistant stints, Ellenwood constructed a terrific turnaround at Thomas More College as the Saints went from 3-23 to 19-9 during a three-year span, capped by their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Div. III tourney.
Currently, he is attempting a similar rebuild at nearby Ashland University, having already taken the perennially-below .500 Eagles to a 15-12 mark last season. Ellenwood lives in Ashland with his wife, the former Abbi Sanford, a 2001 Wooster alum, and their two children, J.J. (5) and Mollie (3). They are expecting a third in September.