Louisville basketball: Looking at potential roster turnover for 2019-20

6 of 7

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 14: V.J. King #13 of the Louisville Cardinals battles for possession against Cameron Johnson #13 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

VJ King – SF

Junior

If you had asked me three or four weeks ago if I thought anyone on this team was going to leave after the season, I would’ve told you 100% I thought VJ King was done with the Cards. After being looked at as the most likely to have a breakout season under Chris Mack, King was averaging all time lows in every statistical category, and was having a really hard time finding his way onto the court due to the play of Jordan Nwora, Khwan Fore, and Dwayne Sutton.

No one gave up on King, including Coach Mack and himself. King kept finding and eventually ended the season on a strong note. The Boston college loss was the turning point for King looking like himself again, and Coach Mack alluded to a sit-down the two had where King came to his office and told him he wanted to play. Louisville’s coach praised King for his ability to navigate the criticism he was receiving throughout the year on social media and keep his locked into the game, something he had struggled with previously. Mack said, “Social media can rob you of confidence sometimes. don’t care if you say ‘put it away.’ Kids have grown up in it.”

More from Louisville Basketball

Prior to that it looked like a foregone conclusion that King, a kid who decided to stick it out at Louisville after Coach Pitino was fired and again after Coach Padgett wasn’t retained, was looking like he was on his way out. But not so fast. King has mentioned that he wants to come back next season to finish his career at Louisville. As I mentioned when talking about Darius Perry, King was asked after the Minnesota loss and he just said “yep” when talking about coming back.

Things change in this world and I think as a fan it’s smart to look at the situation for King. I think we can all agree that we would love to have him back next season just because of where he started to where he is now as a Cardinal. But if he were to change his mind and transfer for his final season, it would make sense.

Louisville has a potential one-and-down type of player coming in at his position in Samuell Williamson, along with two other guards in Josh Nickelberry and David Johnson who can easily play the two position. If Jordan Nwora comes back for his junior season King will be fighting for about the typical 10-12 minutes per game that he played down the stretch for Louisville.

Is that how he wants to finish his career?

That’s a question none of us can answer. But if it’s about starting what he finishes expect King back in Louisville for one more run, one that fans will celebrate the hell out of. However, if he decides he wants to improve his positioning for a professional career, which would require more minutes – something that may not be available at Louisville, maybe he chooses to reset and look at other opportunities.

My Prediction: VJ King returns to Louisville for his final season

Home/Louisville Basketball