Louisville basketball: Putting together the 2020 recruiting wish list
By Jacob Lane
Dain Dainja, C
National ranking: 49
Position ranking: 7
Minneapolis, MN, 6’9″ 260
No matter how things shake out with the 2019-2020 roster, Chris Mack and his staff will need to find a big man in the class of 2020 to either replace Steven Enoch or add depth behind Aidan Igiehon and Malik Williams.
During his time at Xavier, Chris Mack was known for recruiting and developing big men who could rebound the basketball at a high level, score around the rim, protect the rim, and even step out and hit a jumper from the mid-range area. Some of the names that quickly come to mind that college basketball nerds like myself might recognize are Matt Stainbrook, Kaiser Gates, James Farr, Sean O’Mara, and Rashid Gaston.
Last year Mack was handed a roster that included two big men who were both extremely talented but were both very raw in terms of offensive and defensive capabilities. While both guys wouldn’t necessarily be the ideal fit for Mack and may not have been recruited to play on his roster, the work done throughout the year by Mack and Pegues to improve their games was tremendous and it very well could impact the way bigs are recruited for Louisville in the future.
Aidian Igiehon will be the first big man recruited by Mack to Louisville, and 2020 will feature the next. Insert Minneapolis native, Dain Dainja.
The 6’9″ 260-pound big man plays similar to Steven Enoch, but at just 17 years old it’s not hard to see that the skill level is far past where Enoch was headed into college.
Dainja is an ideal fit for Mack, very similar to Jalen Reynolds and Kaiser Gates from Xavier, due to his ability to play the anchor in the middle, snag tons of rebounds, and play extremely physical in the low post.
The Cards are in on a few other bigs in the 2020 class including Hunter Dickinson and Zach Loveday, both of whom possess more size than Dainja. But knowing what I know about Mack, the physicality and having a college-ready body, makes Dainja the ideal fit as the big man in 2020.
Secondary option: Hunter Dickinson