Kenny Payne 'Pleased' with Kamari Lands' Early Growth

The true freshman forward was the Cardinals' highest ranked recruit in the Class of 2022.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - All things considered when compared to most of his peers in the Atlantic Coast Conference, new Louisville men's basketball head coach Kenny Payne hasn't been on the job for very long. He was tabbed to lead the program just this past March, and the current roster for the Cardinals didn't get completely assembled until mid-August when Fabio Basili committed.

But in that short amount of time between multiple offseason practices, an intrasquad scrimmage and a pair of exhibition games, while Payne has acknowledged that there is room for growth, there also has been noticeable improvement since he took over the program.

One player in particular that Payne has highlighted in terms of his growth since taking the job is freshman forward Kamari Lands.

"Kamari is a very good basketball player," he said. "Kamari has great size, he can score on three different levels. There are still things that he's learning, both offensively and defensively, how to read and react off offensive players, how to read and react off defensive players. I'm pleased with Kamari. He's going to be a great player. He's getting better every day. He's a willing learner. He comes in every day and he works."

Ranked as high as the No. 39 prospect in the nation, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound wing was an incredibly productive player and prolific scorer in high school. During his senior season with Hillcrest Prep, he averaged 33.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.5 steals per game.

He committed to the Cardinals on New Year's Day, only for then-head coach Chris Mack and the university to mutually part ways roughly four weeks later. However, his commitment never wavered, and now he's gearing up to finally make his collegiate debut. He is the highest-ranked recruit out of Louisville's three-man Class of 2022.

"This is definitely a big deal for me," Lands said. "Being able to be in this opportunity, I never thought that this day would come, and it finally came, so I'm definitely excited."

His role, as you can imagine, is going to be a little bit different with Louisville than it was in high school. A ball-dominant, high-volume scorer in high school, Lands is now having to get used to playing a lot more off the ball, on top of becoming more fundamentally sound. A wing by trade, he's expected to play a lot at the two-guard, and be someone that provides a lot of help for starting point guard El Ellis.

"It's definitely been a learning experience for me," he said. "I've been having to play a lot more off the ball and be more efficient on my dribbles, which I'm definitely trying to learn how to do. Just not trying to use a lot of unnecessary dribbles, just trying to get from point A to point B. I've definitely been working on that, and I feel like adding that part to my game is gonna help me become an elite player."

Of course, Louisville is still going to utilize his abilities as a scorer, which started to break through during the Cardinals' exhibition play. After scoring just two points on against Lenoir-Rhyne, Lands followed that up with an eight point performance against Chaminade where he went 2-of-4 on three-point shots.

That performance, while it might not stand out to most, was crucial for Lands in terms of establishing early confidence and growth.

"Those exhibition games, for me personally, were definitely a learning experience," he said. "Coming from the first game, didn't really have a good night shooting night, but the second night, just hitting those shots and having the rim open for me opened up for me was big. It definitely gave me a confidence boost, and even my team. My team was hyping me up, and it definitely helped me out."

Even though Lands is only a freshman, he could have a major role on this team. In fact, when the regular season gets underway, don't be surprised to see him crack the starting lineup for Louisville at some point.

"I look at him, and I look at J.J. (Traynor), and I say you could be a starter on this team," Payne said. "I look at this like I have seven or eight starters, and I can change the lineup at any time. Just depends on who's playing what at where, and how their mental state is at the time. I don't look at Kamari as a backup, I look at Kamari as a starter."

Louisville will officially start the Kenny Payne era against Bellarmine at the KFC Yum! Center. Tip-off against the Knights is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 9:00 p.m.

(Photo of Kamari Lands: Timothy D. Easley - Special to the Courier-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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