Jamarcus Ellis, a former basketball player for Indiana, passed suddenly at the age of 38.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, Ellis passed away in an automobile accident early on Friday.

The story states that Ellis leaves behind three boys. Tragedy was nothing new to him. At the age of six, his father was murdered, and at the age of fourteen, he lost his mother to lung failure.

During his one season at Indiana, the tragic 2007–08 campaign, Ellis averaged 30.6 minutes per game, 6.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. After the season that saw coach Kelvin Sampson fired, he was let go from the team. The Hoosiers led 24–4 at the half, but ultimately dropped four of five.

Ellis was a Westinghouse High School alumnus from Chicago. As a senior, he guided Westinghouse to the city championship.

The 6-foot-5 guard enrolled at Indiana in 2007 as a member of a six-man recruiting class that eventually included Jordan Crawford and Eric Gordon, two guards in the NBA.

After the 2006–07 season, Ellis won the National Junior College Player of the Year award before coming to Indiana. He led Chipola (Fla.) Junior College to a 33-3 record and a runner-up finish in the Junior College National Tournament that year, averaging 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game.

After his one and only season in Bloomington, he went to Oklahoma City University. At the time, Ellis was employed as a paraprofessional at a school in the western suburbs of Chicago.