Louisville Basketball: Top 15 Players of 2000’s, 11-8
By Jacob Lane
#11 – Donovan Mitchell (2016-2017)
Career stats: 11.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.5 spg
I’m going to say it one more time, because it’s likely than between the time you hit next slide to now, you’ve probably forgotten. NBA careers are NOT taken into consideration when making this list. What Mitchell has done through his first season of the NBA has been incredible, and he should be ROY. However, that has no impact on his career at Louisville.
Mitchell came into Louisville as a highly coveted and anticipated player due to his jaw dropping highlight dunks. In his freshman year Mitchell came off the bench, and played a somewhat significant role playing behind Damion Lee and Trey Lewis. Just like fans expected, Mitchell dazzled the crowds with dunks, and left fans drooling over his potential as a leader shall he return for his sophomore season.
Following the 2016 tournament ban, Mitchell returned with a new sense of hunger, and instantly became the teams go to scorer. Spida D let the Cards to a 25-9 record, finishing second in the ACC. Mitchell more than doubled his scoring output, going from 7.4 to 15.6 per game, which included a stretch of nine games, after Quentin Snider was injured, where he scored in double figures every time out while averaging an incredible 22 points per game.
Mitchell became the team leader, and cemented himself as one of the fans all time favorite players due to his crazy athleticism, and most importantly with his charisma and selflessness.
The Cards would unfortunately go on to be upset in the NCAA tournament’s second round against 10 seed Michigan, which would be Mitchell’s last game in college.