Guard Charles Minlend Will Not Return to Louisville
(Photo of Charles Minlend: University of Louisville Athletics)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville men’s basketball guard Charles Minlend will not be returning for the 2021-22 season, he stated on his Instagram late Saturday night.
In a post which he went into the detail his knee injury that kept him out for most of the season and subsequent rehab, the graduate transfer confirmed that he will not be coming back for another season.
“Even though I’m not returning to the Ville, I will play again,” he wrote. “But I need to get healthy first. I had a lot of complications pushing to come back and the injury is still lingering but I’m going to work to get back to myself and even better.”
On Nov 5, 2020, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound guard suffered a tear in his left MCL during practice. While the original prognosis suggested a six week recovery, he did not make his 2020-21 season debut until Jan. 13, 2021 at Wake Forest - nearly ten weeks after the injury.
“This is a really tough experience for Charles, head coach Chris Mack said after the season ended. “He came here having scored almost 1500 points in college, and the injury really, really hurt him, and really set him back more than just the six weeks that was forecasted.”
Minlend had the opportunity to return due to the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to COVID-19, but opted not to take advantage of it. Senior forward/center Malik Williams will be returning for another season at Louisville, while graduate transfer guard Carlik Jones has yet to decide.
Projected as a fringe starter prior to the season, the Concord, N.C. native wound up playing in just seven games for Louisville. He scored just six points in his time as a Cardinal - three at Clemson on Jan. 27, and three at Duke on Mar. 10.
Coming over from San Francisco, Minlend averaged 14.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals as a redshirt junior in 2019-20 as the top scorer for the Dons, earning Second Team All-WCC honors.
San Francisco had won five straight before falling to No. 2 Gonzaga by just four points in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament. Minlend totaled 19 points and seven rebounds in that contest, and averaged 18.7 points in three WCC Tournament games.
Louisville opened up the 2020-21 season at 9-1 and were ranked as high as the No. 16 team in the nation, but went 4-6 in the second half of the season to finish 13-7 and miss the NCAA Tournament.
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