Checking in with the transfer portal
UofL has a bit more clarity on their roster for next season, and needs to land some more pieces. What names should Card Nation be watching?
Since I wrote my last UofL article looking at what they needed to do this offseason, there’s been some interesting movement but nothing very consequential to next season. The Cardinals still have a lot of roster spots to fill in in order to upgrade, and the transfer portal is still stocked with interesting names. I thought I’d check back in and offer my thoughts on some new portal additions and what Louisville still needs.
Roster clarity, and holes to fill
It seems as though the roster decisions have been made and Louisville will be returning:
Guards: El Ellis, Mike James
Forwards: Kamari Lands, Jae’lyn Withers, JJ Traynor
Bigs: Sydney Curry, Roosevelt Wheeler
In addition, it seems likely that Louisville will land former LSU commit Devin Ree, a 6’8” 195lb wing who can bring some shooting and length on the wing. That still leaves a need for backcourt reinforcments who can bring ballhandling and shooting.
In my last article I mentioned a few names of interest:
Trey Bonham from VMI, a lead guard who seems to have the athleticism and ball skills to handle the jump up to the ACC
Nijel Pack from Kansas St., a 6’0” shooting guard who is a lights out shooter and was an all-Big 12 honoree last season
Cam Spencer from Loyola (MD), a 6’4” sharpshooting guard with a well-rounded offensive game
A few other names from that article (Tristen Newton, Cameryn Wynter, Jaylan Gainey) have announced their commitment to other schools. Luckily, several more interesting names are available for Louisville to chase as they round out the roster.
Multiple guards needed
I’d expect Louisville to look for 2-3 more guards, depending on whether James/Lands/Ree can bring enough ballhandling and passing to dabble at shooting guard. With up to 6 roster spots, the Cards can take a couple flyers. Here are some names to know, and my assessment of how they fit:
Sean McNeil, West Virginia (6’3”, Senior): In an offseason where Louisville’s interest has been kept close to the vest in most cases, McNeil is one name that has been connected heavily with the Cards. I’m not wildly enthusiastic about this addition to be honest. McNeil is a solid three point shooter at ~37% the last two seasons, but contributes very little else. He has a very low assist rate, doesn’t come up with many steals, and doesn’t get to the free throw line often. He’s a solid finisher at the rim but gets there rarely. Shades of Noah Locke with this one, and I don’t see him being more than a role player off the bench. But, you have spots to fill.
Luis Rodriguez, Ole Miss (6’6”, Junior): Almost the opposite of McNeil, Rodriguez cannot really shoot at all (30% from 3 and 19% from midrange last season) but brings some secondary playmaking thanks to solid assist rates and defensive potential with a high steal rate over his career. Rodriguez has never been a scorer, at 6-8ppg despite 25mpg at Ole Miss, but if you have roster spots to fill then he can fill some kind of role. Not the kind of player who really upgrades the roster, however.
Kendric Davis, SMU (6’0”, Senior): Now we’re talking. Davis is a 6’0” PG who played the last 3 years at SMU after transferring from TCU. He only has 1 year remaining as a grad transfer, but made the AAC all conference team for a good SMU team. Davis averaged 19+ ppg the last 2 seasons at SMU and did so efficiently, hitting 37%+ from three and 60%+ at the rim. He even hit 45%+ from midrange last season at SMU, so he can operate as the kind of off-dribble scoring threat Louisville needs. He’s not just a scorer, however. As a junior he led the nation in assist rate, and posted an assist-turnover rate of better than 2:1 during his 3 years at SMU. He also hit 87% from the free throw line and drew free throws at a high rate. He’s the best player in the portal so far, and is the most accomplished and proven player to have entered in the past 2 years. He’d immediately be the best player for UofL and a foundational piece for next season.
Johni Broome, Morehead State (6’10”, Sophomore): Broome had a big season at Morehead State as their 6’10” man in the middle, and is one of the bigger names in the portal. He has 3 years of eligibility remaining, so UofL could land a multi-year big man if they land him. He ranked in the top 50 in offensive rebound rate and defensive rebound rate He has very little offensive game away from the paint (9-31 on anything else), but hit a solid 56% of his twos last season. He doesn’t bring much playmaking, and doesn’t draw many free throws, which is a bit of a concern given his size advantage over mid-major opponents. He was a tremendous shot-blocker last season, ranking 7th in block rate and putting up 15 games of 5 or more blocks. However, only two of those games were against teams in the top 100 per KenPom (Murray State, Belmont), so there’s some question as to whether he can do anything similar against ACC-level competition. Per BartTorvik.com, Broome’s stats feel off considerably against top-100 and top-50 level competition. Broome would bring more of a defensive presence than Sydney Curry and is more ready to contribute than Roosevelt Wheeler, but I’m not sure Louisville needs to prioritize a headline big over backcourt options. That being said, he definitely makes the frontcourt more interesting thanks to his rebounding and shotblocking.
Here are a couple other recent portal additions and my thoughts on them:
Antoine Davis, Detroit (6’1”, Senior): Davis has been a perennial fixture among the top 5 scorers in the country for bad Detroit teams. While his ability to put up 25+ ppg seems interesting, he’s not a very efficient scorer, takes a massive volume of shots, and hasn’t shown that he can do much to help a team win games. I think Louisville can find better fits.
Grant Sherfield, Nevada (6’2”, Senior): Sherfield transferred from Wichita State to Nevada and scored 19ppg the last 2 years with assist-turnover ratios of 2:1. He hasn’t been a great shooter from deep (33-36%) but hits 85%+ from the FT line, which indicates some potential to post a higher 3pt FG%. He’s also a solid midrange shooter, so he could bring some scoring pop to the Cards. I have no idea if he’d be interested, but Louisville should reach out.
Efe Abogidi, Washington State (6’10”, Junior): Abogidi has also entered his name into the NBA Draft, but I don’t see that in his near future. He averaged about 20mpg for a much improved Cougars team and is an athletic and disruptive frontcourt presence. He put up strong block and steal rates while hitting 75% of his shots at the rim. He isn’t the headline name Johni Broome is but would be a great defensive complement to the current Louisville frontcourt.
Louisville’s interest in transfers has been pretty quiet this offseason, so it’s tough to know what kind of players the staff is going after. It’s quite possible that their evaluation of the current roster is rosier than mine, and maybe they don’t think they need the type of lead ballhandler/scorer that I think they do. Regardless, I’d expect to start seeing some additions finalized within the next week or two so that we can get a better idea of what to expect in season 1 of the Kenny Payne era.