Mack: "Seven or Eight" Scholarship Players Available vs. Wisconsin
(Photo of Chris Mack & Louisville Players: Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When the Louisville men's basketball program travels up to the Kohl Center in Madison, WI to face the Wisconsin Badgers this weekend as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, they will be even more shorthanded than they already were when the 2020-21 season began.
Head coach Chris Mack said on Thursday that due to COVID-19 contact tracing within the program, his guess was that "seven or eight" scholarship players would be available against the Badgers. He did not reveal who would or would not be available.
The Cardinals paused all team-related activities back on Dec. 3 due to COVID-19, and resumed them seven days later on Dec. 10. The pause caused their Dec. 4 game vs. UNC Greensboro to be canceled, and their Dec. 9 matchup vs Wisconsin to get postponed to this Saturday.
Despite returning from the pause, Louisville would later announce that their ACC opener vs. NC State, originally slated for Dec. 16, would also have to get postponed because of the virus.
Mack clarified that just because the program was back to practicing, did not mean everyone was back on the floor. In fact, he says that the Cardinals are still in the process of getting players back form various stages.
"We decided that we just simply couldn't play the game against NC State," Mack said. "We didn't have enough available players. So, I think when people see well, "Why? Why not? You resumed practice?" Doesn't mean all your individuals are back to practice. It just means the ones that are back, were determined to be not direct contacts and had enough negative tests in order to return to the court. So, we didn't return as a whole unit when we began practicing this past Saturday."
Out of the twelve scholarship players on the roster for Louisville, only nine of them have been available so far this season. Forward/center & co-captain Malik Williams is out 12 weeks with a foot injury, guard Charles Minlend is out for six with a knee injury, and guard Josh Nickelberry has been out indefinitely following arthroscopic knee surgery.
Fortunately, Mack was able to give his first real update on the latter, saying that he is beginning to turn a corner.
"He's doing more in workouts, and I'm hopeful that we can get him going in a week or so depending on how his knee responds to those workouts," he said.
Louisville, ranked at No. 23 in the AP Top 25, is 4-0 on the season having last played on Dec. 1 vs. Western Kentucky. Wisconsin is No. 12 in the same poll and 5-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming against Marquette 67-65 on Dec. 4.
Tipoff between Louisville & Wisconsin is set for Saturday, Dec. 19 at 12:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ESPN2.
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