Louisville basketball: Preseason player power rankings

The story all along with Quinn Slazinski after he signed with Louisville back in November of 2018 was that he was going to take a redshirt season in 2019-20, solely focusing on getting his body ready for college basketball and getting comfortable with Chris Mack.

But over the last two months, the tides have turned and everything seems to be pointing towards the 6’8, 200 pound forward suiting up and playing a role with the Cardinals in his first season on campus. Through offseason training and now into the start of the practice, players and staff alike have praised the work of Slazinski and just how far he’s come in a short period of time.

Speaking on his improvement through the summer, Mack said earlier this summer:

"“I do know that he made a hell of an impression on our coaching staff with his readiness for this level, his attention span, concentration level, skill level….. I love Quinn. He has a great personality, loves the game and works hard. Guys like that get better.”"

While the verdict on whether Slasiznki will suit up for Louisville this season, as Mack has said that he’ll wait until the last possible second when making a decision on redshirts, we do know he’ll have to get healthy first. During the Basketball Tip-off Luncheon, Mack revealed that Slasiznki was hospitalized and may need surgery for appendicitis.

If Quinn plays this season it will be in a very minimal role, playing mostly in blowouts and when foul trouble or injuries arise. He’s got a long way to go in being college-ready but he’s a big kid who provides sharpshooting, which is something all coaches would say they want available on their bench.

Continuing on with promising wings who may not be quite ready to play at a high level now but will be a huge part of the program in the future, Jae’Lyn Withers is a guy who’s going to benefit in practices and exhibitions without Malik Williams available.

At 6’8 Withers provides Louisville with an athlete “oozing with potential” as Chris Mack put it this summer who can score in a variety of ways and make explosive plays around the rim. With Louisville going up against Youngstown State, Indiana State, NC Central, and USC Upstate to start the season after the opener against ACC foe Miami, we’ll likely get to see quite a bit of Withers.

He has come a long way. Does that translate into minutes? Not yet. He may have the most upside of any freshman we have because he’s very athletic. He’s athletic, he’s instinctive in some ways, he affects shots at the rim.

He’s shown a lot dedication to his body and making sure he’s ready to play year one but with him still being so raw it’s unlikely he’ll play a huge role. However, my bet is there will be a couple of “wow plays” this season courtesy of the uber-athletic forward.

With the injury to David Johnson in Louisville’s backcourt, it’s going to force Chris Mack to lean more on freshman combo guard Josh Nickelberry than he may have expected – at least early on.

While Nickelberry will play behind veterans Fresh Kimble, Darius Perry, and Ryan McMahon – he’ll provide a combination of shooting and athleticism that the other guys simply don’t have. Mack has been complimentary of Nickelberry this summer for how hard he’s worked on his body and his game, even while nursing a hand injury, and ultimately likely earning himself some minutes in the rotation.

I see Nickelberry as a three to four-year star at Louisville, but this season he’ll be more of a niche role player as a shooter and cutter. With Louisville’s schedule being relatively weak to start, expect Nickelberry to get quite a bit of run which should ultimately decide if he’ll be apart of the rotation once the team is fully healthy.

After Samuell Williamson, four-star big man Aidan Igiehon was the must get for Chris Mack’s 2019 class and it’s not hard to see why. With an NBA ready body at just 18 and crazy explosion, Igiehon is a star at the making for Louisville basketball.

While a lot of fans thought that the highlight videos they saw meant that Igiehon was a one-and-done caliber, the truth was that the freshman brought a lot of solid skills such as rebounding and scoring around the rim, but the all-around game and conditioning weren’t quite ready to be highlighted for Louisville, at least early in the season.

Now with back-up big man Malik Williams out for at least the first few weeks of the season, Igiehon will be thrust into a role that will be crucial for Louisville. He’ll be responsible for crashing the glass on both sides of the floor at a high level, providing a rim protector, and being the muscle of his unit on the floor.

Chris Mack was asked about the progress of Aidan Igiehon in Friday’s Media Day availability and whether or not he’s ready to contribute this soon. Mack said:

"“It’s been a learning lesson. But as I told him you’re going up against one of the top 15 bigs in the country (in teammate Steven Enoch). I don’t know if he appreciates that pr understands its. Aidans’ adjustment that if he makes he’ll be able to contribute sooner rather than late. He’s got to learn to play hard (harder) every possession. Blocking shots, screening, running the floor.”"

He’s going to do a lot of good things for Louisville early on, but there will also likely be quite a few mistakes and head-scratching plays that remind us he’s just a freshman. But man, the future is bright.