Keeping up with former Louisville basketball players who left the program for more playing time or a different coaching style used to be a simpler task. It used to be “oh yeah, Lorenzo Wade” or “oh yeah, Keith LeGree, let’s check in and see how he’s doing now.”
The combination of the transfer portal and U of L’s recent run of ... ugliness ... has changed that game. We now have 63 (or something, I got tired and stopped counting) players from the last three seasons who sought other homes to continue or wrap up their college careers. Some of them are now headed to their second destinations since leaving Louisville.
Let’s keep up with where our old friends are headed for next season, starting with last year’s squad. Somewhat amazingly, a total of eight players from that team are headed to power conference programs for next season. That’s one player to a power conference program per 2023-24 win.
2023-24 Team
Skyy Clark — UCLA
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield — NC State
Mike James — NC State
Tre White — Illinois
Emmanuel Okorafor — Seton Hall
Ty-Laur Johnson — Wake Forest
JJ Traynor — DePaul
Danilo Jovanovich — Milwaukee
Dennis Evans — Grand Canyon
Kaleb Glenn — Florida Atlantic
Curtis Williams — Georgetown
Koron Davis — TBD
Hercy Miller — TBD
2022-23 Team
Jae-Lyn Withers —North Carolina
After spending three seasons (plus a redshirt year) at Louisville, Withers took on a supporting role for a North Carolina team that made the Sweet 16 last season. He had perhaps his best game of the season in the first round of the NCAA tournament when he scored 16 points and snagged 10 rebounds in the team’s win over Wagner. Withers, who confirmed earlier this month that he’s returning to North Carolina for his final year of college hoops, finished the season with modest averages of 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Kamari Lands — Middle Tennessee (from Arizona State)
The former high-profile U of L recruit had a rough sophom*ore season playing for Bobby Hurley in Tempe. Lands appeared in 32 and started three games for a not-so-great Sun Devils team last season, playing 18.8 minutes per contest while averaging 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, scoring double-digit points in seven games. He’ll look to inject some life into a Middle Tennessee team that went just 14-19 last season and was two games under .500 in Conference USA.
Fabio Basili — TBD (from UT-Arlington)
Basili is back in the transfer portal after averaging just 3.6 points and 7.1 minutes per game last season at UT-Arlington. To reinforce just how abysmal that 2022-23 Louisville team was, Basili got more playing tome on that squad as a true freshman than he got last season as a sophom*ore for the Mavericks.
Roosevelt Wheeler —East Tennessee State (from VCU)
The former U of L big man barely saw the court for VCU this past season, appearing in just 15 games and averaging only 0.6 points and 0.7 rebounds while playing 4.8 minutes per contest. Like Basili, all of those numbers were down from his time at Louisville. Wheeler announced earlier this month that he’s headed to ETSU for his senior season.
Devin Ree — Louisiana Tech
The first high schooler to sign with Kenny Payne, Ree showed a bit of promise as a sophom*ore, averaging 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 40.7 percent from beyond the arc. He is expected to step into a larger role for the Bulldogs as a junior this season.
Ashton Myles-Devore — University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
The former Cardinal walk-on appeared in just one game for UMHB, which competes at the Division-III level.
2021-22 Team
Matt Cross — SMU (from UMass)
There might not be a recent Cardinal who has had more success since entering the portal than Cross, who averaged 15.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists for a solid UMass team last season. After entering the transfer portal or a third time, he was pursued by several of the biggest programs in the sport before ultimately signing with SMU. With the Mustangs headed to the ACC, Louisville will see their old forward again at least once this season.
Dre Davis — Ole Miss (from Seton Hall)
Davis might have been the most improved player in the Big East this past season. He averaged 15.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and netted the game-winning shot in the championship game of the NIT. He was a highly-coveted member of the transfer portal before signing with Chris Beard and Ole Miss for his final collegiate season.
Brad Colbert — Xavier
The former U of L walk-on splashed a fee-good three in a Senior Night win over DePaul and finished the season averaging 1.3 points per game. The good vibes continued a month later when the announcement was made that he would return to Xavier for one more year and would be on scholarship for his final season.
Out of Eligibility
El Ellis — Arkansas
The two-year Louisville guard who shocked many by bolting for Faeyetteville struggled in his final season of college hoops. He averaged 6.5 points and 1.8 assists per game on an Arkansas team that wildly underachieved.
Sydney Curry — Grand Canyon
It was a similar story for Curry, who went to Grand Canyon expecting to be a mid-major star but ultimately barely saw the court for the ‘Lopes. He finished the season averaging 3.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
Samuell Williamson — SMU
Williamson’s numbers remained remarkably consistent with where they had been for each of the previous three seasons, as he averaged 8.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for an SMU team that made the NIT. While he certainly wasn’t a bad college player, Williamson’s status as a 5-star McDonald’s All-American is likely to perplex future basketball scholars.
Gabe Wiznitzer — Ohio
Wiznitzer averaged 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in his second and final season with Ohio. The Bobcats went 20-13 and lost in the MAC tournament semfiinals.
Quinn Slazinski — West Virginia (from Iona)
Slazinski appeared poised to follow Rick Pitino from Iona to St. John’s, but a scholarship crunch in New York ultimately sent him to Morgantown for his last college season. Slazinski performed well in a tough situation for a Mountaineer team that lost head coach Bob Huggins right before the start of the season. Slazinski posted career-bests of 12.3 points and 4.1 rebounds while making himself a fan-favorite in the process.
Josh Nickelberry — Florida State (from La Salle)
After two productive seasons as a double-figure scorer at La Salle, Nickelberry took a second stab at ACC basketball. It went a lot like his first go-round. Nickelberry averaged just 2.5 points and 9.5 minutes per game for a bad Florida State team.
Aidan Igiehon — Abilene Christian (from Grand Canyon)
“The Irish Hulk” once again disappointed, averaging just 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in his final college season. The former top 40 recruit averaged either 2.7 or 2.6 ppg in each of his final four college seasons.
