Kenny Payne: Louisville's Talent Level for 2023-24 Season 'is a Lot Better'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At this point in time, it's well documented how the first year of the Kenny Payne era went for the Louisville's men's basketball program. The Cardinals posted their worst season in modern history, going just 4-28 overall and 2-18 in the ACC to set a new school record for most losses in a single season.

Following the end of the 2022-23 season, Payne and his staff immediately got to work bringing in fresh talent ahead of his second year at the helm. Despite suffering a cataclysmic first season, they were able to bring in an impressive haul for next year.

Louisville wound up seeng seven players depart via the transfer portal, but Payne and Co. were able to bring in nine newcomers for the 2023-24 season: six high school seniors and three Division I transfers. Louisville's 2023 high school class comes in at No. 6 in the country according to 247Sports, while their transfer class is 30th.

Louisville boasts only four scholarship returners for next season: Mike James, J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor. Hercy Miller is also back, but has been reverted to a walk-on.

In a recent interview with CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Payne gave some of his initial thoughts on both the roster as a whole, as well as some of Louisville's expected top contributors. He believes that Louisville is much more talented than they were last season.

"The first thing that comes to my mind about the roster, is the talent level is a lot better," Payne told Rothstein. "The amount of players that can produce and be a part of it, a guy can't take the day off. Every single day, you look around you, there's 12, 13, 14 guys that, if you decided that you don't want to go hard, somebody's going at you. They're very competitive, they're skilled, and they all have a chance to surprise people."

One of Louisville's top newcomers is Skyy Clark, an Illinois transfer who will take over at the point after El Ellis opted to transfer to Arkansas. As a true freshman last season, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound point guard averaged 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three-point attempts over the first 13 games of the 2022-23 season. He announced in early January that he was stepping away from the Fighting Illini due to "personal reasons," and later entered the transfer portal.

As you can imagine, Payne is very high on Clark. In fact, when next season is said and done, Payne said that he expects Clark to be considered "one of the best guards" in all of college basketball.

"I envision him to be able to handle the position and get the keys to the to the program, the keys to the car," he said. "He's very poised. He has a chip on his shoulder. He has a lot to prove. He's a winner. ... By the end of this season coming up, I expect Skyy Clark to be one of the best guards in the country."

Someone who has a chance to be just as much of an impact player next season is Tre White, a transfer by way of USC. Like Clark, the 6-foot-7, 210-pound shooting guard/small forward didn't waste any time becoming an impact player as a true freshman for the Trojans. Making 33 appearances and 29 starts last season, White averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while also shooting 47.4 percent from the field. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team for his efforts.

Payne believes that White is a "major" addition for Louisville, crediting his overall versatility and progression since he arrived on campus earlier this summer.

"Tre White is so talented. He's a multi dimensional, very versatile wing player," he told Rothstein. "He could play some four, he can play some two he can play some three. I'm just asking him to come here and learn as much as he can, and lead us and fight every day.

"If his dream is to be an NBA player, he needs to know what that means, and help this program. It's a stage where you can get what you want from this place. This is one of the best historical programs in the country. People care about Louisville. He has an opportunity to come here and be a part of something really special. He's done a great job since he's walked in these doors, and he's only getting better."

Rothstein also asked Payne his thoughts on Trentyn Flowers, an incoming true freshman who is Louisville's top prospect in their 2023 recruiting class. The 6-foot-8, 210-pound guard/forward ranked as high as the No. 4 small forward and the No. 18 player in the 2024 cycle before reclassifying to 2023, according to ESPN. He averaged 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 26 games during his junior year at Charlotte (N.C.) Combine Academy.

Of course, Payne loves what he has seen so far out of Flowers purely from a basketball standpoint. But on top of that, he loves the attitude and energy that Flowers brings to the court, especially for someone that should be a senior in high school right now.

"He's a talented, talented kid," Payne said. "The thing that I think compares to the other guys that we had (during his time as an assistant coach) at Kentucky, is he's a willing learner. His energy and his spirit is unbelievable. He's very vocal. He's determined to be good, and he's learning on the fly. I'm telling him every day, 'I need you to fail, I need you to bump your head,' because that's gonna be the true test. How do you take the kid that's a high school junior, and come into college basketball, and the goal can't be for, right now, you to be the best player.

"The goal has to be by January, February, where are you at? Where are you mentally? Where are you with your game and with your development? Where are you with the concepts, and learning different things, and how do you learn? Slowing down your mind so that you're at peace, and you can just play with freedom and know that you're you're going to get better and get through some things. I'm happy, lucky and blessed to have him with us. Love his spirit, love his competitive nature love his willingness to learn. But I also know it's gonna be hard for him."

When asked by Rothstein who else he anticipates on having major roles for Louisville, Payne was quick to name incoming true freshman small forward Curtis Williams Jr. and JUCO transfer guard Koron Davis, calling both "good" players.

He also believes that James has "came back better, more focus and more developed." The returning guard/forward put up 10.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last season, averaging the second-most points on the team behind Ellis. Payne would also go onto say that he "needs to have a big year" from returning forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who put up 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last year.

As far as this team's X-Factor goes, it seems that Payne believes it will be incoming true freshman center Dennis Evans. The 7-foot-1, 210-pound big man ranks as high as the No. 11 prospect in the nation according to Rivals, and averaged 14.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.9 blocks per game during his senior season for Riverside (Calif.) Hillcrest.

"If he can be what we need him to be, it changes the whole dynamic of our team, because now we have an anchor around the basket that changes and blocks shots,' Payne said of Evans. "And he has unbelievable touch."

Collectively, this crop of players - combined with Payne's takeaways from his first year as a head coach - should help Louisville produce a much better brand of basketball than they did last season. But like last offseason, Payne is not setting his goal and expectations for the 2023-24 season to "X" amount of wins. Instead, he will be judging that based on how they fight and progress as the season goes on.

"That's a question that can't be answered by numbers, or by number of wins," Payne said when asked by Rothstein what he is expecting from his squad. "But it's a question that can be answered by the competitiveness of my team, and how they go out and fight every single day, and we see what happens. But I can't put a number on it.

"We first have to pass the eye test. Then, we have to go out and see what our spirit is as a unit. We won't know that until January or February, but I'm hoping that - and I try to make the summer's hard, but I'm hoping that we go out and just fight, and fight for everything that we earn, and have fun doing it. Because we're rebuilding a program."

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Bob Donnan - USA TODAY Sports)

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