For Michelle Cadeau, the conversation feels like it occurred yesterday. She and her son Elliott were driving down Main Street in West Orange, New Jersey, where they lived, discussing whether he should play tackle football. An elementary school student at the time, Elliot was obsessed with sports. He and his older brother, Justin, were always playing something—tennis, soccer, basketball, flag football. Elliot had been excelling at flag football and wanted to transition to the tackle variety.

“I wasn’t happy about the idea, so I did some research,” Michelle recalls. “I found a basketball program. I explained to Elliot that it was a year-long program. I said, ‘You’ll play 52 weeks a year. If you play football, it’s only six weeks in the summer.’”

To help build her case, Michelle reminded him of how hot it can be playing football in August. Defiant, Elliot didn’t budge.

“I know, but I want to play football,” he told his mom, his tone matter of fact and with certainty.

Michelle knew he liked to think about things before making a decision, so she let it go.

After a period of silence, Elliot said, “You tell me that if I play football, it’s six weeks? If I play basketball, it’s every week, all year?”

“Yes,” answered Michelle.

“All right,” Elliot agreed, “I’ll play basketball.”

Carolina fans knew what they were getting when Elliot committed to UNC—a player who set a tournament record with 29 assists at GEICO Nationals his senior year of high school, including 14 assists in the championship game.

Approaching the end of the 2023-2024 regular season, fans have had a chance to witness that same unselfish play from Elliot as a college point guard. They’ve watched him find reserve James Okonkwo for a key alley-oop to close out the first half of an ACC road game and seen him work to get star RJ Davis a then-career high with 36 points against Wake Forest in January.

“When RJ had 36, I was just so happy for him,” says Elliot, who could be seen looking up at the Smith Center roof and putting his hands on his heads in disbelief after Davis hit his final shot of the masterful performance. “And I was just constantly thinking of ways to get him 40. He had 36 and I'm over here calling a play so we can get another three…. That’s just how I think.”

A self-described pass-first point guard who has become more aggressive offensively and taken opportunities to score as the season has progressed, Elliot’s natural approach to the sport—and life—is to be unselfish. Even at a young age, Elliot wanted to make other people happy, whether it was the teammates he played with or the friends and family who were around him off the court.

“I like seeing my teammates happy,” he shares. “I like seeing them involved, and I feel that way about my friends and family as well. I love seeing them happy, and I love giving them stuff.”

Elliot grew up the younger of two brothers. The elder, Justin, is a senior at Howard University, where he plays on the men’s tennis team. Busy with sports and travel throughout their childhood and adolescence, Michelle and her husband, James, divvied up the travel duties. Michelle took Elliot to basketball; James took Justin to tennis.

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