LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The chatter about the University of Louisville basketball team this week has been about Carlik Jones and Charles Minlend Jr., the graduate transfers who will slide into the Cards’ backcourt with David Johnson.
Duly noted. I’ll return to Jones and Minlend later in this story.
When I make my list of guys who will have a more direct impact on Louisville’s ability to compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, I must start with another player — Samuell Williamson.
Williamson is a guy who has star power. He’s the only McDonald’s all-American on the roster.
With Jordan Nwora out of his path, Williamson should be primed to deliver considerably more than 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds, which is what he averaged in 15.5 minutes per game.
Williamson scored 13 (Miami) and 15 (Indiana State) in two of Louisville’s first three games — and then managed double figures once (14 against Clemson Jan. 25) the remainder of the season. He averaged nearly 11 points in U of L’s first four games — and 3.5 in the only 27 he played.
I expect Williamson to be a force next season. Louisville coach Chris Mack does, too.
“I think Sam’s poised to have a really big jump from freshman to sophomore year,” Mack said during a 25-minute teleconference Thursday, his second Q & A since the novel coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of the remainder of the Cardinals’ 2020 season.
“In many ways, one of the best things that Sam does is score. He has the unique ability to get in the lane and rise up, get to his spot and use that 6-7 frame of his. He has a great touch in the lane.
“I think some of the things that he did well for us when he was playing well, was he scored the ball.
“Now, when you come into a program that has a guy like Jordan Nwora, who’s one of the elite scorers in college basketball, and you have a guy like Ryan McMahon, maybe that’s not necessarily what we needed from Sam all the time.
“If we do get that, we have to have the defensive effort and the defensive understanding. Because when you have a guy like Dwayne Sutton, he has that for five years.
“Sam, at times, had some really good moments. He also had some freshman moments, that we had to pull him off the floor, whether it was turnovers.
“Sometimes when you’re a freshman or you’re a guy who’s maybe not playing, consistently 25-30 minutes a night, you get a little tightened up, thinking you have to prove yourself and do something that puts you in a position where you’re maybe making more mistakes than you are making positive plays.
“Sam’s potential to score for us is through the roof. I think he’s shown that he can be a very good rebounder for us.
“He’s going to have to up his defense. He knows it. He’s more than capable. I think he grew as a freshman.
“We’re really looking forward to having Sam as a sophomore, thinking he’s going to do some really big things for our team.”
Mack also addressed several other items:
*He said the coaching staff would like to add a frontcourt player but he will not sign a player simply to fill an open scholarship spot.
“It’s an area of need, but we’re not going to fill the scholarship just to get a warm body in there,” Mack said.
He said the coaching staff checks the NCAA transfer portal every day. “It’s always fluid,” he said.
*He said Louisville’s affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference was critical to the Cards’ ability to sign Minlend, the graduate transfer from the University of San Francisco.
Minlend did not list U of L among his seven finalists when he announced he was leaving USF. But Mack and assistant coach Dino Gaudio pursued Minlend after the Cards had a backcourt gap created by Jay Scrubb’s decision to pursue a pro career instead of playing even one season for the Cards.
“It did happen awfully fast,” Mack said. “We had to find someone who could help us in the backcourt.
Mack said the staff knew Minlend played high school basketball in Concord, N.C. Mack said that Butler was the campus located closest to North Carolina on Minlend’s final seven.
They thought the ACC tie would be critical — and it was. A pair of video conversations with Minlend secured the commitment.
*Mack said Minlend and Jones, another graduate transfer from Radford University in Virginia, would be critical contributors in the backcourt with Johnson and Josh Nickelberry.
Mack said both players carried chips on their shoulders from being overlooked as high school recruits.
“Both of them bring an element of toughness, both mentally and physically,” he said. “They’re both extremely tough and smart.”
*Mack said the program would be interested in staging a public scrimmage or exhibition that would benefit people suffering hardships because of the circumstances created by COVID-19.
But, an exhibition game would require a waiver from the NCAA. It is also currently impossible to plan anything with players scattered across the country and no date for when they can return to U of L.
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
