Leadership will be key for Louisville basketball come 2019

Louisville basketball has a chance at a Final Four run in 2019-2020, but there’s one thing that must be fulfilled before that can happen.

It’s not very often that a college basketball team brings in seven new players, returns just six scholarship players, and is still being talked about as a potential Final Four contender. For Louisville basketball, that’s exactly what will happen heading into the 2019-2020 season.

In just his second season as the head coach of the Cardinals, Chris Mack has a chance to put his name into the conversation as one of the elite coaches of college basketball if he’s able to take a team that looked to be on the verge of an epic collapse following the firing of Rick Pitino to a National Championship contender in just two years.

With a top 10 recruiting class and one of the nation’s top graduate transfers incoming and the Cards bringing back an astonishing 67% of minutes, 76% of points, 80% of rebounds, 51% of assists, 71% of steals, and 89% of blocks from last season, according to Louisville statistician extraordinaire, Kelly Dickey, Louisville could return back to the city where they won the National Championship in 2013.

With those expectations, there’s a lot that has to take place behind closed doors and on the floor come fall. The biggest being, leadership.

When asked about Jordan Nwora and Steven Enoch returning next season and the leadership that will be needed to achieve the things that both the Cardinal fanbase and National Media are saying, Chris Mack alluded to what his team will need, saying:

"“The best teams, in my opinion, are the ones that are led by their oldest players, We’re going to find out a lot about our team this summer and the leadership it possesses. That’s going to be really important."

If that is true, Louisville should be in good hands this season.

Even with seven new players coming into the fold this offseason, the Cards will be one of the most experienced teams not only in the ACC but throughout the entire country.

The 2019-20 roster will feature four seniors (including grad-transfer Fresh Kimble), all of which will be redshirt seniors -meaning they’ve been around college basketball programs for five years each, as well as three juniors. Together that gives the Cards a combined 25 years of experience.

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Louisville went through a lot last season, and there will be a lot for each of the six returning players to glean from. Whether it was the epic collapse to Duke, the multiple blown leads, the lack of consistent effort, or the first round tournament loss – there will be no shortage of motivation for this team next season. However, the team’s primary leader from a year ago, Christen Cunningham, is gone, leaving the responsibility to carry the torch onward with someone else.

The obvious replacement for Cunningham is Kimble, the first ever three-year captain in St. Joseph’s basketball history. But there are still so many unknowns when it comes to his fit and style with the group of players returning, especially considering him behind when it comes to learning the Mack system, unlike CC last year.

Jordan, Steve, Ryan McMahon, Dwayne Sutton, and Malik Williams all seem to be relatively quiet guys who lead on the floor with their play, and all are still learning how to be the “everyday guy” that Chris Mack expects, while we all know that there is a lot of work to take place this summer with junior guard Darius Perry.

Can one of those guys break out of their shell and become the leader this team needs? Someone will have to step up and take the reigns from CC as the team’s leader off the floor and on the floor, especially when it comes to teaching the seven new guys what it’s about playing for Louisville and for Chris Mack.

At his press conference with local media, Mack continued his thoughts on leadership pointing to the summer as a time where he’ll learn a lot about his club, saying:

"“I’m looking forward to this summer to see who emerges as an everyday guy and somebody inspires his teammates. We have guys who are all about the right things, but that leadership is going to be important with seven new guys.”"

That phrase “everyday guy” is one we’ve been hearing since the day Mack first stepped on campus as the new Louisville head coach, and it’s more than coach speak. Mack demands a certain amount of excellence each and every day from his players, regardless of their external or internal circumstances.

The leaders of his teams can’t be average. They must be the same player each and every day, doing exactly what Mack has asked to the nth degree.

It was reported that Chris Mack turned down a foreign trip this summer in the program’s first year being eligible for one since the Puerto Rico trip in 2015-16 because he knew that chemistry and continuity would be more important.

Next. An early look at the 2019-20 Louisville basketball depth chart. dark

Will that decision to stay home and grow together on and off the floor pay off? Will the leader Chris Mack is looking for step up and take the reigns? These are all questions Mack and his players will have to answer this offseason if they want to take the steps necessary to become a legit Final Four contender.

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