Posted on by jeffrey9910

In what could be a shock, the Louisville Cardinals have hired Kent State Golden Flashes head coach Sam Fisher to replace the fired Mike Pegues. Fisher led Kent State to the NIT Championship last season with a 27-10 record. The Cardinals also signed a new 2nd assistant coach in Stan Heath. The Cardinals last season went 12-19 overall and 7-13 in the ACC. “I wasn’t planning on leaving Kent State after just one season,” said Fisher “but when a top team in a top conference becomes available, you take the opportunities. I didn’t think I had a chance to get the job, so that surprised me. But look forward to making the Cardinals a winning team again.” Louisville had the 56th-best recruiting class

The Louisville Cardinals have released the 2023-24 schedule. Highlights are: hosting coach Fishers’ old team the Kent State Golden Flashes on Thanksgiving weekend on November 26th, followed by hosting the Indiana Hoosiers (14-16 last season) the following game on November 30th, and then in-state rival and currently ranked #4 Kentucky Wildcats on December 13th. The Wildcats are reigning national champions and went 39-1 last year.

I planned on putting the new coaching hires here…but I guess I simmed to far past that point and it’s no longer in the news section. It would be nice if it saved that and allowed you to examine the history.

The Louisville Cardinals are overloaded at the guard position with no small forwards on the roster.

The point guard group features one senior, 21-year-old Cedric Ellington from Harrodsburg Kentucky. Ellington was a walk-on who played in 25 games last year averaging 2.0 minutes a game. Junior A.J. Brooks played in only nine games last season. The other two point guards are freshmen. Darrell Gordon was redshirted last season and Joe Brown is a true freshman. Both are 4-star recruits.

Projections: Ellington and Brooks will compete for the starting job. Brooks is a 4-star recruit who is expected to win that job. Joe Brown is expected to be redshirted.

Senior Tate Kincade is the leader of the team. The senior guard played in 31 games last year averaging 13.2 minutes per game while scoring 5.9 points with 1.7 assists. Maurice Johnson, the junior from West Liberty Kentucky is expected to be the backup. Johnson is a four-star caliber prospect. Johnson played in 31 games last season averaging 29.0 minutes a game and scoring 9.8 points per game.

Projections: Kincade starts with Johnson coming off the bench. Merriex and Davis will compete to play small forward.

The power forwards are led by true freshman Ricky Clark. Clark is a three-and-a-half star recruit from Marion South Carolina. Junior Paul Levy and senior Derek Walters are both three-star recruits. The starting position is up for grabs, even though Clark is expected to get first dibs at it. Levy played in 31 games last season averaging 24.9 minutes per game while scoring 7.9 points per game and grabbing 5.2 rebounds per game. Walters averaged 25.6 minutes per game while scoring 6.2 points per game and grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game.

The centers are led by 19-year-old sophomore transfer from Eastern Kentucky, Sam Reece. Reece played 32 games last season averaging 24.0 minutes per game. Scoring 10.8 points per game and grabbing 4.9 rebounds per game. Reece is a 4-star recruit. He will compete with 20-year-old junior Trevis Austin for the starting job. Last season Austin averaged 19.0 minutes per game while scoring 7.8 points per game and grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game. Duany Johnson is a walk-on senior who averaged 8.1 minutes per game last season, scoring 2.6 points per game. Mark Burks is a redshirt freshman. He’s a 2.5-star recruit but where he fits in this season remains to be seen.

Projections: Reece and Austin are expected to compete for the starting position. What happens to Burks and Johnson is up in the air.