No regrets as Ellis legacy grows by reaching 250

Featured image: Michael Farnell @sportsimageryau

Cody Ellis thought he was done with basketball three years ago but is glad he had a change of heart to now become the third Warwick Senators player to reach 250 SBL/NBL1 West games while being part of the remarkable four generations of his family history.

Basketball has been such a part of Ellis' life considering when he was born his dad, Mike, was in the middle of making history as the first ever captain of the Perth Wildcats, the first ever championship captain and went on to have a storied 302-game NBL career.

Not only that, but the entire Ellis family had such a history at the Senators whether it was called Stirling back then or Warwick now, and that started with his grandad Gordon, and then with his dad along with his brothers Glenn and Brett.

Cody has carried that on playing all his junior basketball with the Senators and then continuing to come back to play during his NBL career with the Sydney Kings and Illawarra Hawks, and it's where he has maintained his basketball home ever since.

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Already the third generation of the Ellis family to play with the Senators, his and wife Lauren's son Chase is now coming through the ranks himself, and for Cody what makes his 250-game milestone this weekend so special is that he has done it all at a club that means so much to his family.

At the same time, because basketball played such a big part of his life and while he rightfully felt there could have been more NBL opportunities after his last season with the Hawks in NBL18, by the end of 2023 he felt he needed an escape from basketball.

He didn’t touch a basketball for six months, but that FOMO kicked in just ahead of the 2024 NBL1 West season and now he's in a third season with Senators having recommitted and gets to reach 250 games as a result.

He doesn’t know if he would have regretted staying retired, but he's happy he decided against it too.

"I still don’t think I would have regretted anything, but I've certainly enjoyed coming back and playing again and continuing to play," Ellis said.

"Obviously to be able to make a Grand Final which is pretty special even if we just fell short in it helps that too, but I don’t think I would have regretted anything still.

"While I have enjoyed playing on and continuing to play, and being around the club and the boys and all that, I think had I have stopped there it would have still been alright in my mind. But certainly I'm pretty grateful that I did come back."

Doing it all at the Senators

Ellis grew up obviously wanting to follow his dad's legacy by playing in the NBL, but also continuing on the family name with the Senators and that's why he remained committed to play as soon as he finished his college career at Saint Louis.

For all four off-seasons during his NBL career with the Kings and Hawks, he came back to play at the Senators and has continued to do so ever since highlighted by being championship captain with his dad as coach on the triumph West Coast Classic team of 2020.

"That was always something that I wanted to do was stay at the club and I always loved coming back and putting on the blue-and-green, and representing the club and I guess helping to carry on the family legacy as well really," Ellis said.

"It's certainly something pretty special that not a whole lot of people can say they do, or have done, and to be one of the all-time games played players is very special.

"It's a pretty cool achievement and there's certainly a lot of hard work and effort that's gone into it.

"It's something that I don’t give too much thought into at the moment, but later on down the track I'll look back and really appreciate it even though I still do now but you also just focus on what you have to do. It's definitely special though."

The Ellis family legacy

Above everything else that Ellis has done and been part of his career, carrying on from what his grandfather, dad and uncles had built at the Senators, and now having his own son start his own journey is going to trump it all.

"It's pretty insane when you think about it with the fourth generation coming through now with Chase, it's nuts," Ellis said.

"I don’t know how many clubs would have that and I don’t know how many even have three generations, let alone a fourth coming through. It's certainly something that's very special and Chase loves it so I don’t see why he won't continue on as well.

"Just to be able to represent the family as well is pretty awesome especially with how good my uncles and my dad obviously were, and even some of cousins coming through are really good hoopers. We'll see what Chase does with his career and just to be part of that is cool."

Only third Senators player to get to 250

At a club with such a rich history, there's not too many players that have racked up big numbers at the Senators since the SBL was formed back in 1989 with Ellis now to become just the third player to reach 250 games.

Carmie Olowoyo is still out in front having played 265 games with current captain Jay Thwaites quickly closing him down on 258. Ellis is proud to now join them and especially to have shared so much of that journey with Thwaites including that 2020 championship triumph.

"Jay was always going to end up with more games than me I think, he's a bit younger than me and his body's holding up a little bit better than mine is currently," Ellis said.

"So I knew that was always going to happen, but look to be able to play pretty much my whole career with him as well has been really special. He's a really good mate and I now all the time and effort and sacrifice he's put into the club as well so that makes it special."

Looking back on Grand Final

Ellis went ever so close to achieving a dream of celebrating a championship with the Senators on RAC Arena last year on a floor where he was no stranger to playing big games on including top scoring for the Illawarra Hawks in an NBL Grand Final game.

While it wasn’t quite to be for him and the Senators last year with the eventual heartbreaking loss to, who else but the Geraldton Buccaneers, he does feel eventually he'll be able to look back on that experience all round positively.

"It obviously still hurts but I think the further we get away from it, the more I'll look back and appreciate what we were able to do to get there," Ellis said.

"I've been part of lots of teams here that have had the pieces to be able to win, but haven't been able to get to that spot so to be able to play at RAC again was pretty special.

"It always is a special place to play so it was pretty cool to be able to go out on that floor to play again even though I was absolutely rooted because I had just been on my bloody death bed.

"That wasn’t ideal obviously, but it was still certainly a special moment even if we didn’t get what we were hoping for."

Heading to Kalgoorlie for milestone

It's not lost on Ellis that a lot of his biggest career moments in the SBL and NBL1 West have involved trips to Geraldton or Kalgoorlie, so in some ways it's only fitting his 250-game milestone on Saturday night falls on their trip to the Goldfields to face the Giants.

"It always seems to be milestone games or first round of playoffs or any sort of big game that we're always on the bus to Gero or Kal," Ellis said.

"This time we're actually taking the train to Kal so we'll see how that goes, but it is what it is and realistically it's just another game.

"We're not where we want to be in the season and there's higher priorities currently than me playing my 250th so we have to go on the road and get a win hopefully. That'll be nice."

Still confident in this season

There was rightfully big expectations on the Senators in 2026 on the back of getting so close to a championship last year but covering the losses of Elijah Pepper, Cooper Creek, Todd Withers and Mitch Clarke was never going to be easy.

Things then haven’t gone to play from the start and currently Warwick sit at 4-10, but with a starting group featuring Will Tschetter, Tristan Forsyth, Marshawn Blackmon, George Pearl and Billy McRae, it stacks up well.

Throw in a bench featuring himself, captain Jay Thwaites, Brody England, Tyler Shand, Kye Chamberlain, Marcus Inu and Trey Sandon, and Ellis is confident it's still not too late to make a run.

"I think for sure we can still make a run and we've got the pieces to be able to do it," Ellis said.

"On paper, we're pretty stacked and I think if you look at our starting five now that Tristan is here, we're just as comparable to most other teams in the league.

"And if you look at our bench, and we go just as deep if not deeper than a lot of other teams as well. If we can figure it out, which we've got to do pretty quickly now, then we'll be good. If we do sneak into the eight, then I certainly wouldn’t want to play us."

Having a coaching future

When Ellis initially needed that break from basketball three years ago and having also seen what his dad had been through as a coach at both NBL and state league level, coaching wasn’t necessarily something that was on his radar.

However, now that he has had a taste of it and with the knowledge his playing days are certainly closer to the finish than the start, it's something that he'd like to throw himself further into down the line.

"Last year I was assistant to Boston in the under-14s champs team and went and did nationals, which was great," Ellis said.

"We finished the highest the club ever has at nationals which was pretty cool. This year, I'm assistant with Chase's team as well and assisting the under-20s so I've got my hand in lots of different pies just for a change.

"It's something that I'm growing to enjoy a lot more the more I do it so I don’t see why after I do stop playing why I wouldn’t slot straight into more of a coaching role and try to further my career that way."