Louisville Basketball 2020-21 roster outlook 2.0: Jones & Minlend join the fray
Nearly a month has passed since we did our original Louisville Cardinals men's basketball roster outlook for the 2020-21 season, and there has been a lot more clarity as to how Team 107 will look when they open up the season against Western Kentucky.
Between concrete decisions to move onto the next level and the Cardinals working the graduate transfer market, things look a little bit different than they did a month ago, especially in the frontcourt.
Departures and Arrivals
While it was highly unlikely that the NCAA was ever going to grant college basketball seniors an additional year of eligibility to begin with, it was confirmed towards the end of last month that this would indeed be the case. Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble, Keith Oddo, Steven Enoch, Dwayne Sutton and Ryan McMahon have now officially played their last games as Louisville Cardinals.
Also confirmed to be departing the program is junior Jordan Nwora and signee Jay Scrubb. Nwora officially declared for the NBA Draft, and Scrubb confirmed that he would be staying in the draft process and would forgo his time at Louisville. Darius Perry also joins the graduating class, doing so as a graduate transfer.
The Cardinals might have lost a decent amount of talent due to graduation, the transfer portal, and the NBA, but head coach Chris Mack has done a solid job in the grad transfer market and still has two quality HS seniors joining this fall.
Reigning Big South Player of the Year Carlik Jones and Second Team All-WCC selection Charles Minlend with decided to leave Radford & San Francisco respectively to play their final collegiate seasons as Cardinals. Between the two, they are bringing 34.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game to Louisville.
In the high school ranks, JJ Traynor is still the cream of the crop in the state of KY as the power forward from Bardstown HS is the top ranked player in the Commonwealth, and small forward D'Andre Davis is a Top 100 player according to 24/7 Sports. With Louisville having one scholarship left for 2020-21 and having addressed their needs in the backcourt, Mack is planning on using the final scholarship on a frontcourt player.
Projected Depth Chart
Given all that we know now about the current state of Louisville's roster, here's a look into what the depth chart next year could look like:
| Point Guard | Shooting Guard | Small Forward | Power Forward | Center |
|---|---|---|---|---|
David Johnson | Carlik Jones | Samuell Williamson | Jae'Lyn Withers | Malik Williams |
Josh Nickelberry | Charles Minlend | D'Andre Davis | Quinn Slazinski | Aidan Igiehon |
JJ Traynor |
The point guard position has gotten a tad deeper by default because of the grad transfer additions. David Johnson is unquestionably the starter and is expecting to get a ton of minutes, but whenever Johnson is not in the game it's not 100% clear who slides into this role. You could argue that Josh Nickelberry could be the guy because of how much deeper the 2 & 3 spots are now as opposed to a week ago, or maybe even Carlik Jones could be it and Minlend takes the two spot if head coach Chris Mack wants to go with a smaller lineup.
Speaking of Jones, he is the obvious starter at the two guard spot for next year. While not as big as Johnson, his scoring and shooting abilities makes way for a clear starting role. No only did he score 20.0 points per game, but he also shot 40.9% on three point attempts. Whether you want to call him a scoring or shooting guard, you can still call him starter. Charles Minlend is also a more than capable backup, and will more than likely see himself inserted as the go-to sixth man next year.
With Jordan Nwora confirmed to be heading to the NBA, this makes way for Samuell Williamson to have a more impactful role in the 2020-21 season. While the McDonald's All-American didn't have quite the year he hoped he would as he averaged just 4.4 points a game, having an entire year to adjust to the college game will do him some good heading into next season. Combined with the physicality and scoring ability of D'Andre Davis and Minlend's abilities at the three spot, the Cards should get some solid play from the wing next season.
The four spot remains unchanged from our previous from our last roster outlook, although lineup versatility could lead to others taking this spot. Mack seems to favor the instincts and athleticism of Withers, and with Withers redshirting this past year to adjust to the college game and get his body right, he could be primed for a breakout redshirt freshman year. Quinn Slazinski & JJ Traynor could also vie for the starters' role depending on how the offseason progresses.
All other positions are primed to have some flexibility among the current players on the roster, but the center position is the only one that is not completely set in stone yet. Malik Williams is the defensive heart and soul and almost a guarantee to be pencilled in as the five spot starter, but beyond him are question marks. With Mack planning on using the final scholarship spot on a center, the backup big man remain to be seen. Will it be Aidan Igiehon? Will he make the leap from year 1 to year 2? Or will it be an unforeseen grad transfer? Will Mack land another grad transfer at all? Time will tell.
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