The preseason expectations are high for the Louisville Cardinals in 2019-20. The Cardinals are coming off a 20-14 season, where they secured an NCAA tournament bid in Chris Mack’s first year at the helm. This was considered a minor miracle due to the NCAA sanctions which contributed to the dismissal of former head coach Rick Pitino, former athletic director Tom Jurich and former school president Dr. James Ramsey. Mack and his staff took over a team that in 2017-18 was admirably coached by former Pitino staff member, David Padgett. UofL had major wins last season against Michigan State, Seton Hall and North Carolina, but struggled with closing out games (Duke, Florida State). After being knocked off by Richard Pitino’s Minnesota Golden Gophers (convenient storyline pairing) in the first round, the Cardinals bring back experience and add a deep top-notch recruiting class.
Key Returners
- Jordan Nwora
- Steven Enoch
- Dwayne Sutton
- Darius Perry
- Ryan McMahon
- Malik Williams
Louisville was arguably the biggest winner of the NBA Draft deadline by keeping the services of junior Jordan Nwora and redshirt senior Steven Enoch. Nwora is the preseason ACC Player of the Year and 1st Team All American from essentially every major publication. The 6-7 wing averaged 17 points and 7.6 rebounds as a sophomore and shot 37% from three-point range. Nwora will look to be a more efficient player this season and become a better ball handler and defender in the hybrid pack-line defense. Enoch is a big 6-10 center who can mix it up down-low and possesses an outside shot. He shot nearly 36% from three-point range last year as he split time with Malik Williams at the 5. In the off-season, Enoch focused on his conditioning so that he can finish out games.
Dwayne Sutton is considered one of the best glue guys in college basketball. With his defensive prowess, Sutton will consistently get the defensive assignment on the opposing team’s best wing threat. Despite breaking his foot in the off-season, look for Malik Williams to keep improving from a defensive aspect. He averaged 1.2 blocks per game, which should improve, and he should be regarded as one of the best post defenders in the ACC. Arguably, the Cardinal backcourt may be the biggest question mark with Darius Perry and Ryan McMahon getting chances to lead the way. Perry had an up and down campaign under Chris Mack but has received praise in the off-season for his attitude and effort.
Key Losses
- Christen Cunningham
Cunningham is the only real loss for the Cards. His production and leadership can hopefully be made up for by Fresh Kimble (St. Joe’s transfer), David Johnson, Perry and McMahon.
Key Newcomers
- Samuell Williamson
- Aidan Ighieon
- David Johnson
- Fresh Kimble
- Josh Nickelberry
Chris Mack and his staff did a masterful job recruiting system players and impact players for the 2019-2020 season. The biggest impact player is McDonald’s All American, Samuell Williamson. Williamson is scoring wing with a phenomenal mid-range game that has scouts comparing him to Jayson Tatum. St. Joe’s graduate transfer Fresh Kimble is a seasoned point guard that averaged 15.7 PPG in a tough A-10. Freshman big man, Aidan Ighieon will add depth up front behind Enoch and Williams. Ighieon reminds many Cardinal fans of a more polished Montrezl Harrell with his contagious energy, physicality and rim rocking dunks. David Johnson is a big guard at 6-6 who fits the prototypical Chris Mack backcourt player. Despite suffering a should injury this offseason, look for Johnson to get a serious look at starting guard minutes with Kimble and Perry.
Louisville bound McDonalds All American Samuell Williamson In his last High School game #ballislife pic.twitter.com/Q4Jqcoa7Ea
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 7, 2019
Projected Starting Five
- Darius Perry
- Fresh Kimble
- Dwayne Sutton
- Jordan Nwora
- Steven Enoch
Louisville Cardinals Season Outlook
The Louisville Cardinals appear to have the right mix of veterans, depth, and a strong influx of talent to potentially be the ones cutting down nets in Atlanta this year. Nwora is a bonafide college star with a center in Enoch who can impact the game at both ends with his size and shooting touch. The x-factor players for the Cardinals to get to the Final Four come down to who will seize and lead the backcourt. Darius Perry has been praised in the off-season for his attitude and began to display it toward the end of last season with some inspired play. Grad transfer Fresh Kimble was brought in to solidify the position and talented freshman David Johnson is the closest to the typical big guard that Mack covets for his system. In addition, keep an eye on Samuell Williamson and whether he can help shoulder the scoring load.
The Cardinals, from a mental standpoint, need to learn from last season and close out games. The epic collapse versus Duke sent the Cardinals into a tailspin that it never fully recovered from. Also, Cardinal fans will get a good feel for Chris Mack’s coaching acumen since this will be the deepest and most talented team he’s coached. Balancing a lot of mouths to feed will be a challenge. I believe in the Cardinals and see them getting to the Final Four in Atlanta.
Record Prediction: 25-5 (16-4)
For the non-conference slate, Louisville will have an early test against Western Kentucky in a neutral site matchup in Nashville. Hilltopper’s center Charles Bassey will be one of the best interior players the Cardinals will face all season. In the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, Louisville will be hosting the Juwan Howard coached Michigan Wolverines. The last two times the Cardinals squared off with Wolverines were in the 2013 National Title game and the second round of the 2016-17 NCAA Tournament. UofL will travel up to New York and play national runner-up Texas Tech in the Jimmy V Classic. Texas Tech, while down this year is still a top 25 team and you can never count out a team coached by Chris Beard. And of course, they’ll be playing preseason title contender and bitter rival Kentucky in Rupp Arena. This will be the first time Chris Mack goes into Lexington as the head coach of the Cardinals.
For the ACC slate, it’s a gauntlet. The Cards will play on the road against a reloaded Duke team, an imposing Florida State squad, Kevin Keatt’s (Former UofL Assistant) NC State team and defending national champion, Virginia. They’ll also host Cole Anthony and UNC along with Virginia and Syracuse.
