LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Animal is one word that University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Kenny Payne loves to use to describe a critical skill he wants in his players.
Shooting, passing, rebounding, defending and the other fundamentals are wonderful. Essential, even. But lots of guys have those qualities.
But are you a player who must be encouraged to invest extra time in the gym or are you a guy who has to be ordered out of the gym because you’re already taken 500 extra shots?
Expect an unrelenting work ethic to be a prime quality of the seven newcomers on the roster that Payne and his coaching staff have recruited for next season.
Louisville coach Kenny Payne during an ACC Tournament loss to Boston College in Greensboro, N.C.
And, expect a major talent upgrade. The Cardinals’ current group of newcomers are ranked the fifth-best class in the nation, behind Kentucky, Duke, Connecticut and Michigan State by 247Sports.
Using that website’s recruiting class calculator, the ranking will jump to second, trailing only Kentucky, if Payne also lands Mackenzie Mgbako, a 5-star forward from New Jersey who is considering U of L, St. John’s, Kansas and Indiana. Mgbako, an AAU teammate of D.J. Wagner, who decommitted from Duke, is scheduled to visit Louisville this weekend.
Last season, a miserable muddle that resulted in the Cardinals winning four of 32 games, six scholarship guys were Payne recruits.
Next season, Mike James and J.J. Traynor will be the only two leftovers from the previous coaching staff.
The Cardinals have been more successful in the transfer portal this spring than they were last spring, when they were limited by whispers about potential NCAA probation.
They hit big with Skyy Clark (Illinois) and Tre White (USC) who were ranked in the Top 35 by 247Sports in the prep class of 2022. Some consider Danilo Jovanovich, a forward from Miami, a legitimate sleeper as a stretch four shooting prospect.
They have added four high school players ranked among the Top 76 incoming recruits by 247Sports.
Payne is convinced that Koron Davis, a junior college player from Los Angeles Southwest Community College by way of Texas and Gary, Indiana, will play valuable minutes in the Cardinals’ backcourt. A late bloomer, Davis is 6 feet 7 inches tall and plans to play point guard.
These are all guys that Payne and his staff scouted, analyzed, vetted and endorsed. They will come to school next month with a legitimate understanding of what is expected. They are expected to be animals.
The five returning Louisville players were all encouraged to return.
Expect Mike James to become a team leader as well as a more productive player as he is another year removed from Achilles’ surgery. Traynor played his best basketball down the stretch, averaging nearly a dozen points and 5.5 rebounds over the last six games.
Louisville's Mike James looks to drive during an ACC Tournament loss to Boston College in Greensboro, N.C.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield should be healthier and tougher. Emmanuel Okorafor will have more time to adjust to the lifestyle change from Africa. Hercy Miller figures to face a reduced role as a backup guard but Miller brought a winning attitude last season.
How will it all fit? That’s to be determined.
But there is no debating that Payne has more of the guys that he wants — larger guards and more physically imposing players.
White should be the kind of attacking wing who will be on the first line of scouting reports by opposing coaches. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic wrote that White is “a two-way player with legitimate NBA upside whom scouts believe has a real shot to elevate into a real prospect as soon as next season.”
At 6 feet 7 inches, White can become a matchup problem because he can play guard as well as small forward. His three-point shooting needs those extra 500 shots per day. White made only 26.5% of his shots per distance on 49 attempts.
But he scored in double figures in seven conference games, including 22 against Washington, which helps explain White was voted first-team all-freshman in the Pac-12.
As of last weekend, White was ranked the third-best player available in the transfer portal. Now he is a signature piece of Kenny Payne’s remaking of the Louisville basketball roster.
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