Louisville Basketball: Jordan Nwora’s potential impact in 2018-19

Jordan Nwora had a very up and down freshman season for the Louisville Cardinals. Is he ready to have a breakout year in his second season on campus?

Yesterday afternoon the Cardinals and new head coach Chris Mack got news they had been waiting on. Sharp shooting forward Jordan Nwora is officially coming back to Louisville for his sophomore season.

Though Nwora “announced” his “intentions” of coming back shortly after Chris Mack’s introductory press conference at the KFC Yum! Center, saying he was “happy here,” both parties had intentions of getting together to make a final decision on his future.

Yesterday the Courier Journal’s Jeff Greer released a story detailing the sit down meeting between Chris Mack, Jordan Nwora, and his parents, which seemed to seal the deal for all parties.

At this point it seems as though Louisville and Chris Mack have a firm understanding of what the 2018-19 roster will look like when it comes to returning players. Malik Williams, Lance Thomas, Darius Perry, Dwayne Sutton, and Ryan McMahon all have confirmed that they would return for their next season of college eligibility. While Deng Adel and Ray Spalding announced their intentions to test the waters for the NBA Draft, with Spalding deciding to hire an agent and forgo his remaining eligibility.

Getting Nwora back is a huge win for Mack, and he is very likely to be a centerpiece for the Louisville Cardinals for the next couple of years.

What does Jordan Nwora bring to the table for the 2018-19 season? A lot.

In his freshman season the 6’8, 215 pound forward averaged 5.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in 28 appearances, while only averaging 12 minutes per game. Nwora was 9th on the team in minutes played, with only Malik Williams and Lance Thomas behind him, the two of which played sparingly throughout the season.

Nwora came to the Cards as a four star recruit out of Buffalo, New York, known for his ability to shoot the ball. That’s exactly what David Padgett got this season from Nwora, even though he racked up several DNP-CD’s for reasons unbeknownst to the Cardinal fan base.

Again in only 28 games played, Nwora led the entire team in three point shooting percentage at 49%, and was fifth in three’s made. In 2018-19, Nwora will be the team’s leading three pointer

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shooter, ahead of Ryan McMahon and VJ King (should he chose to come back for his junior season).

While Nwora did struggle quite a bit defensively, he improved throughout the season, especially when Padgett went to more of a zone based defense. Nwora finished the season with a 0.9 DBPM (Defensive box plus minus), which takes into account the defensive points allowed per 100 possessions. The only players who finished ahead of Nwora were Anas Mahmoud, Quentin Snider, Deng Adel, Dwayne Sutton, and Malik Williams.  He will certainly need to improve significantly if he intends to receive more playing time and maybe even a starting role, but there’s no doubt that he is capable of doing so.

For a player who only appeared in 28 contests, playing on average 12 minutes per game, it’s best to look at his statistics through a different lens.

Players tend to struggle to get in rhythm when they don’t get consistent minutes throughout a season, which Nwora did at times. However, when you look at Nwora’s “per 40 minute” statistics, the numbers are eye popping. This statistic looks at what a player does on a “per minute” basis, while the “per game” basis looks at the entire game.

Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 4/6/2018.

Based on per 40 minute statistics, in 2018-19 Nwora will be the team’s leading scorer, a top rebounder, a valued passer, and possibly even a consistent defender. While these numbers don’t necessarily tell the entire story, they do give us an idea of just how valuable Nwora could be to Chris Mack next fall.

Coming across 6’9 wings who are capable of playing two positions is never an easy feat, but getting one who can shoot the way Nwora can is nearly unimaginable.

I wasn’t in that meeting that took place between Nwora, his parents and Chris Mack, but clearly Mack has a strong vision for Nwora. At the end of the season it seemed as though Nwora was the most likely to leave the program, following a somewhat disappointing freshman. But now, all that has gone out the window.

Louisville fans saw a glimpse of what Nwora can be with an expanded role in the team’s final win of the season against Middle Tennessee in the second round of the NIT. The freshman forward finished the game with 17 points, in which 12 of those points came from deep.

It’s too early to tell the exact role Nwora will play next season, but if he’s able to shoot the ball like he did in small doses next year, he could be in-store for a breakout sophomore season.

Next: 2018-19 Graduate Transfers

Louisville currently has six scholarship players (plus Dwayne Sutton, Jo Perry, Jacob Redding) returning to next seasons team. There has still been no word on whether VJ King will return, while Deng Adel will have until late May to decide on coming back to school or staying in the draft.