Louisville Season Preview

2022-23 Record: 4-28, 2-18 ACC (15th)

Coach: Kenny Payne, Second Year

Departures: El Ellis, G (Transfer)

Kamari Lands, W (Transfer)

Jae'lyn Withers, F (Transfer)

Sydney Curry, F (Transfer)

Roosevelt Wheeler, C (Transfer)

Devin Ree, F (Transfer)

Arrivals: Skyy Clark, G (Transfer from Illinois)

Tre White, F (Transfer from USC)

Danilo Jovanovich, F (Transfer from Miami (FL))

Koron Davis, G (JuCo Transfer)

Ty-Laur Johnson, G (Freshman)

Kaleb Glenn, F (Freshman)

Curtis Williams, F (Freshman)

Dennis Evans, C (Freshman)

Projected Starting Lineup

PG: Skyy Clark

SG: Michael James

SF: Tre White

PF: JJ Traynor

C: Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Roster Breakdown

Year one under Kenny Payne was an unmitigated disaster, with Louisville only winning four (4) games last year. The issues were pretty obvious, with El Ellis being the only real ballhandler on the roster, he got ran into the ground, and teams were able to focus in on stopping him. Floor spacing was non existent and the Cardinals were absolutely dreadful. Ellis transferred out to Arkansas in the offseason, and Payne was tasked with replacing him, and there are certainly some more guards on the roster this year, although there is already significant drama surrounding them. First off, Trentyn Flowers, a 2023 recruit, left the program to go play in Australia. He says he's a point guard, which I have my doubts about, and there's been a lot of fallout around that, but nevertheless, it's one less guy who can (hypothetically) handle the ball. Another freshman, Ty-Laur Johnson, a point guard from New York who's ranked 80 in the 247Sports Composite, has allegedly enrolled at Louisville after rumors he wouldn't make it to campus, but there are still questions about his eligibility. Skyy Clark is the presumptive starter at point guard this year. He was a 5 star recruit in the 2022 class, and was originally committed to Kentucky before flipping to Illinois. He tore his ACL before his senior year of high school, and he still looked rusty last season, so hopefully he's fully healthy, because he's electric when he is. However, he left Illinois in January after being removed from the starting lineup, only playing 13 games last season, averaging 7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. When he is at his best, he's shifty and explosive with the ball in his hands, plus has a solid jumper as well. Koron Davis joins from the junior college ranks, and he could see some minutes right away just because he can play the guard spots. But while they might be light on guards, the opposite is true for wings. Mike James is the leading returning scorer for the Cards, putting up 10.1 points a game last season in addition to shooting 35.7% from three and grabbing 3.3 rebounds. The redshirt freshman also came on stronger down the stretch, putting up 12.5 points a game once the calendar flipped to 2023. Tre White has transferred in from USC where he was a member of the Pac-12 All-Freshman team last year on the back of putting up 9 points and 5.1 rebounds a game. He's great around the rim and defensively, but isn't much of a shooter. The Cardinals also add Danilo Jovanovich and Curtis Williams to their wing rotation. Jovanovich redshirted last year at Miami (He techinically played 2 minutes and put up no stats) but was billed as a shooter coming out of high school, and could provide some much needed spacing. Williams is ranked 79 in the 247 Composite, and based on what I've seen and read, he should fit into the prototypical 3 and D mold on the wing. The frontcourt will be crowded, with three returners and two newcomers. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred from Tennessee before last season, and hopes were high for the former five star in the 2021 class. However, he only put up 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds across 25.6 minutes, and he never seemed to reach his potential. He has potential to shoot it, he made 75% of his free throws, but it didn't translate, he shot 27.8% from deep. He does have a good face up game, but struggled with consistency and defense, and missed the end of last season with an injury. He also turned it over nearly two times per game, which is crazy for a big man. JJ Traynor returns for his fourth season with the Cardinals, and last year was by far his best thus far. He put up 6.9 points and 3.8 rebounds a game, and has good size and athleticism for the four spot. He will need to continue developing his jumper, but he should have a role on this team. Emmanuel Okorafor joined the Cardinals at midseason last year from the NBA Academy in Africa and played right away, appearing in 5 games and averaging 14,.8 minutes, 4.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. He's still raw, but a full offseason should help him get ready physically and refine his skills. Kaleb Glenn and Dennis Evans are both joining from the high school ranks. Glenn is the 75 ranked prospect in the 247 Composite, and he's great operating from the high post offensively. He's got a long wingspan, but his lack of a consistent three point jumper and struggles guarding the perimeter probably make him a four man in college. Evans, ranked 27 nationally, is a borderline 5 star because of his defensive impact. He's 7'1" and alters a lot of shots at the rim, and is considered one of the best rim protectors in the class. However, he's still very raw and skinny, so he'll need to put on some muscle. And there's question about his offensive game, as you'll see some highlights of him shooting threes, but it remains to be seen if he can do that consistently at the highest level. 

My Thoughts

If you can't already tell, I'm out on this Louisville team again. It'd be shocking if they are as bad as they were last year, because that was a historically bad team, but this roster construction is so similar to what didn't work last year. There's two point guards on this roster, and I'd say there's significant questions about both of them. Clark clearly has talent, but he struggled defensively last year and then quit on the team after not starting for one game. Plus, he turned the ball over 2.1 times a game, the same amount he assisted, and had 2.8 fouls a game, and for a team with limited guard depth, they'll need him on the court. I'd also say his strength is currently more in scoring than running an offense, so I wouldn't say he's a great fit on this team, but I could be wrong. Ty-Laur Johnson just got to campus as of writing, which is late August, and I don't even know if he'll be eligible. If he is, we've all seen freshmen point guards go through their struggles, and Johnson is also known more for his scoring abilities than passing, at least from what I've seen and read. Both guys could very easily prove me wrong, but I have my doubt about point guard play on this team. Koron Davis put up some good JuCo numbers, but it can be hard to say how those translate to the highest level, and I just simply don't know enough about him to say he's the answer for this team. And that's literally it for them at the guard positions, which really worries me. I actually really like the collection of wings, I think Mike James and Tre White are both very good and Curtis Williams can develop into a good ACC wing as well. Power forward is also solid with JJ Traynor and Kaleb Glenn, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield as well, although I think he'll see minutes at center as well. Emmanuel Okorafor Dennis Evans could actually be literally and figuratively huge for this team because one thing I haven't really mentioned is that the Cardinals were dreadful defensively last year. They had too many wings trying to guard guard and bigs trying to guard wings, and they got shredded on that end. Okorafor and Evans could provide some rim protection to help clean up the back end, and Tre White is a pretty good defender as well. While there's certainly a lot of four and five star talent on the roster, but I don't think it fits together well at all. There's a distinct lack of ballhandling and shooting, which isn't what you want to hear from a modern offense. I think Kenny Payne's seat is going to get very hot as this season goes on.