NBC Sports Ranks Louisville Basketball #16 in Early 2018-19 Top 25

It’s been one of the most interesting offseason’s in UofL history. Could the new look Louisville basketball program be a top 25 program next season?

Louisville is heading into a new era of basketball, doing so with a new head coach for the first time since 2001. Out is Rick Pitino (as well as Interim coach David Padgett), in is one of the biggest up and comers in college basketball, Chris Mack, who new Athletic Director Vince Tyra was able to pluck from Xavier.

Many questions existed during the season regarding the Louisville roster for 2018-19, as the media and fans thought there was a chance many players from the  roster may consider transferring, rather than playing for their third coach in three years. Mack quickly dissolved all those uncertainites, convincing all eight players to return for the next season of eligibility. However, Deng Adel & Ray Spalding, who had recently declared for the NBA draft without agents, still had a major decision to make.

Shortly after the hiring of Chris Mack, the Cards found out they would, indeed, lose their top two scorers from last season, as both players decided to hire agents and remain in the NBA Draft.

With only eight scholarship players the coaching staff hit the road, doing their best to grab one of the remaining, eligible graduate transfers and even going after a few 2018 prospects, including long-time Cardinal commit Courtney Ramey.

After swinging and missing, the Cards and Mack finally landed their first player for the 2018-19 season, Christen Cunningham, a Kentucky native and graduate transfer from Samford, giving them nine scholarship athletes.

Though the season is still several months away, and many questions still remain, analysts around the country are still putting together lists and rankings in attempt to keep fans interested. One of those, which has caught my eye, is the “way too early” top 25 rankings for the 2018-19 season from NBC Sports

While myself, and many UofL fans, have no idea what to expect from next seasons team that loses it’s top three scorers, but returns four juniors and sophomores- including transfer Steven Enoch- there’s a lot of hope that the team could still have a successful season. Let’s not forget that Chris Mack, has been one of the most successful coaches in the entire country over the last few years.

The newly updated preseason top 25 rankings from NBC sports has Louisville ranked as the 16th best team in the country, while also including an interesting projected starting five. While many are still awaiting to see what players will leave for the NBA or come back, the Cards know who they will get back (barring an unexpected transfer).

"16. LOUISVILLE CARDINALSWho’s gone: Anas Mahmoud, Quentin Snider, Ray Spalding, Deng AdelWho do they add: Chris Mack, Steve Enoch, Christian CunninghamProjected starting lineup: Darius Perry, Dwayne Sutton, V.J. King, Steve Enoch, Malik WilliamsHow good of a coach do you think that Mack is? Because that is what this really comes down to. Even though the Cardinals lose Adel along with Spalding to the draft, there is enough talent on this roster to make an NCAA tournament — I think the evidence of that is that if the Cardinals hadn’t lost a fluke game to Virginia they would have been in the tournament last season. And all due respect to David Padgett, Mack is a better coach than he is right now."

Interestingly enough NBC believes what many people around town believe, Chris Mack is the difference maker this season. While the team returns plenty of talent, not one player played a prominent role for last year’s team aside from VJ King. Darius Perry, Steven Enoch, and Jordan Nwora, will all need to make giant leaps from their performances last year if Louisville has a shot to be a tournament team.

Another notable item to me from NBC’s rankings was the projected starting five. While it’s not been a huge topic of discussion, personally I have talked with fellow fans about what the starting five might look like next season, and Dwayne Sutton has never once entered the conversation.

I believe that the starting five for the season opener might look something like this:

G – Darius Perry

G – Christen Cunningham

G/F – V.J. King

F – Jordan Nwora

C – Steven Enoch

or this

G – Darius Perry

G – VJ King

F – Jordan Nwora

F – Malik Williams

C – Steven Enoch 

Mack certainly has a lot of versatility with lineup possibilities, thanks to players like VJ King, Jordan Nwora, Malik Williams, and Dwayne Sutton. If he wanted to play big, Mack could start a lineup including King at the 2, and Nwora at the 3. And if he wanted to go smaller, Cunningham could slide in at the two (probably as a primary ball handler), King at the 3, and Nwora as a small, stretch four.

As the team gets back to campus over the coming weeks and begin summer workouts, the coaching staff and players will begin to have a better idea of just how good they may be next season.