Another day, another big prediction for Louisville basketball

The hype surrounding Lousiville basketball is at an all-time high, and with that has come bold predictions from some of college basketball’s biggest personalities.

Typically whenever Jay Bilas says something related to college basketball, or college sports for that matter, people listen. That’s what made his most recent Louisville basketball-related prediction “newsworthy.”

We’ve written tons about the upcoming season and just how “real” the hype is surrounding the program in just the second year of Chris Mack’s tenure at Louisville. Fans expected the program to eventually get turned around, putting the FBI Investigation and previous scandals and things of the past in the rearview mirror. But I don’t think anyone saw it coming this quickly.

Part of the revitalization (if you want to call it that) of Louisville basketball has been due to the breakout performance of soon to be junior Jordan Nwora.

After an up and down freshman season, Nwora developed into the go-to guy for the Cardinals in 2018-19, earning the ACC’s Most Improved Player of the Year award in the process. After spurning the NBA to return for his junior season and helping his native Nigerian national team earn an Olympic bid for 2020, Nwora is ready to lead the Cardinals on a potential Final Four run.

As just a sophomore Nwora led the team in scoring and rebounding at 17.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game and his 11.6 points per game increase from 2017-18 to 2018-10 was the second-highest total on the season across the ACC.

Night in and night out, Nwora carried the majority of the scoring load for the Cards and was a huge part of the team being able to get ahead of the curb in terms of development and upset teams like Michigan State and North Carolina.

This season the expectations will be taken to another level, but many across the country believe Nwora is capable. In fact, thus far his game and potential have been one of the biggest topics across the ACC.

Appearing on the ACC Network, ESPN College Basketball Analyst Jay Bilas talked about the upcoming season and which teams and players he’s watching for. When asked about who would be the ACC’s Player of the Year at season’s end, Bilas followed the trend. He said:

"“Jordan Nwora’s got the inside track. He’s an incredibly talented player and he can really shoot it and rebounds at his position…. I think you’re going to see a player as a more mature man as a junior and is ready to really take off.”"

https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1172346084519284736

It’s not hard to see why many of College Basketball’s talking heads are picking Nwora to win the prestigious award as well as throw him into the National Player of the Year award and All-American discussion.

Nwora was one of the most improved players in the country last season and was likely headed towards being a first-round pick in June’s draft if it wasn’t for a calf injury that kept him out of workouts and the NBA Combine.

While another injury cut Nwora’s time short with Nigeria this summer, through several exhibition games and a few games in the FIBA World Cup, Nwora showed big improvements across the board, doing so going up against a hodgepodge of NBA players and International Stars.

Competition for the award will be stacked, as guys like Cole Anthony, TJ Gibbs, Chris Lykes, Vernon Carey, and a handful of others will have every chance to earn the same recognition as Nwora throughout the season.

As things stand, Nwora is and should be without question the favorite for the ACC Player of the Year award and it’s nice to see the experts in agreement.

In 2019-2020, Nwora will play alongside an extremely talented group of players, including big man Steven Enoch, who also put the NBA on hold for a year, as well as potential one-and-done wing Samuell Williamson. Trusting his teammates and improving his passing, decision making with shooting, and of course his defense will be key – but Chris Mack has said all summer he believes Nwora has done a great job of growing in those areas.

Louisville is and should be one of the favorites to finish in the top four of the ACC, and if that ends up being the case and Jordan Nwora has another stellar season leading the Cards, expect to see Nwora crowned.