Indian Hills Men's Basketball Head Coach Cole Dewey has announced the addition of Solon Ellis as an assistant coach for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.

Ellis joins the Indian Hills Men's Basketball staff after a season as a graduate assistant and video coordinator at Southern Utah University. Along with overseeing all aspects of video breakdown and exchange, Ellis was involved in a number of roles with the Thunderbirds, including academic progress, community relations initiatives, on-campus recruiting operations, and player development.

"Coach Solon came highly recommended and has hit the ground running here at Indian Hills," stated Dewey. "Through his time at multiple Division I universities as a graduate assistant, and his long playing career, he has seen success through many different lenses."

Prior to his time at Southern Utah, Ellis served as a graduate assistant at Western Illinois University, helping guide the Leathernecks to the most conference wins in program history in 2022-23. Ellis contributed in a number of areas at Western Illinois, including team scouting, travel management, and film preparation.

"I'm very excited to join Coach Dewey's staff and become a part of the Indian Hills community," stated Ellis. "Indian Hills has been an elite junior college basketball program for decades and has established a winning culture over the years that I'm honored to be a part of."

Ellis' collegiate coaching career began as the lead assistant at Keyano College of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Ellis helped lead the program to its first undefeated regular season and a second-place finish in the conference tournament in 2021-22.

"What stood out immediately about Coach Solon was how everyone spoke so highly about his character and his ability to connect with players," Dewey added. "He will be a great addition to our staff, our college, and our community here in Ottumwa."

Ellis received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and a Master's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Southern Utah University.