Louisville basketball: 3 reasons why Chris Mack struggled on 2020 recruiting trail
By Jacob Lane
Lack of NBA talent produced
It’s unfortunate because Chris Mack came from a smaller program that is not known traditionally for putting players in the league, but part of the issues for the Cardinals in the 2020 class absolutely has to deal with the lack of NBA talent produced.
Louisville has had no issues putting players in the NBA over the last several seasons, as guys like Donovan Mitchell and Montrezl Harrell have risen to star levels, while Terry Rozier, Gorgui Dieng, and Damion Lee have all developed into quality role players for their respective teams while getting paid.
The reason why that hasn’t translated to five-star recruits is, of course, those were players coached and developed by Rick Pitino, not Chris Mack. Now with Mack leading the way for the Cards, he’s not only having to sell the program to the nation’s top recruits but also himself.
Plenty of coaches have had to make the jump from a lesser program to an elite or blue blood program like Louisville and dealt with all the issues that can come with that. One of them being, the lack of talent in the NBA.
Some coaches come to their new programs having a long list of players they were able to develop into NBA players, even at smaller schools, but for Chris Mack, that’s not something he brought to the table.
During his nine years at Xavier, Mack produced just two NBA Draft picks in guards Edmond Sumner (2017) and Jordan Crawford (2010) while only having four others play in at least one game, including JP Macura, Trevon Blueitt, and Semaj Christon.
While that’s not anything to be worried about when it comes to the level of winning at Louisville (at least not yet), it does have an impact on recruiting 17 and 18-year olds who all believe they are going to play in the NBA. Building relationships is a crucial part of recruiting, something Mack has clearly proven to be great at, but when you aren’t able to provide an elite level recruit a list of players you’ve developed and put into the NBA it becomes much harder to recruit against the best of the best.
From Caleb Love to Jalen Terry, Chris Mack had to go against some of the nation’s top NBA producers in coaches like Dana Altman, Coach K, Bill Self, and Roy Williams, and in the end, I think it hurt him that his only NBA player is a bench-warmer for the Pacers.
John Calipari (Kentucky) – Bam Adebayo, Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein, Anthony Davis, Hamidou Diallo, De’Aaron Fox, Wenyen Gabriel, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kevin Knox, Skal Labissiere, Trey Lyles, Darius Miller, Malik Monk, Jamal Murray, Nerlens Noel, Patrick Patterson, Julius Randle, KAT, Jarred Vanderbilt, John Wall, P.J. Washington
Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)– Grayson Allen, Marvin Bagley III, R.J. Barrett, Wendell Carter, Quinn Cook, Seth Curry, Harry Giles, Rodney Hood, Brandon Ingram, Kyrie Irving, Frank Jackson, Tyus Jones, Luke Kennard, Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker, Mason Plumlee, Cam Reddish, J.J. Redick, Austin Rivers, Jayson Tatum, Gary Trent Jr., Zion Williamson, Justice Winslow
Bill Self (Kansas) – Chieck Diallo, Joel Embiid, Devonte’ Graham, Josh Jackson, Frank Mason, Ben McLemore, Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Svi Mykhailuk, Kelly Oubre Jr., Andrew Wiggins
Roy Williams (UNC) – Harrison Barnes, Tony Bradley, Reggie Bullock, Ed Davis, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, John Henson, Justin Jackson, Cameron Johnson, Nassir Little, Theo Pinson, Coby White, Marvin Williams
Dana Altman (Oregon) – Jordan Bell, Chris Boucher, Dillon Brooks, Troy Brown Jr., Louis King
Archie Miller (Indiana) – Romeo Langford
Chris Mack – Edmond Sumner
I understand that the talent pool for a program like Xavier (especially early on in his tenure when they were still in the A-10) is much different than it would be for the programs listed above, but the point isn’t about whether Mack can or can’t produce NBA players. It’s that he hasn’t produced that level of talent (yet) giving the other coaches the upper hand.
Mack’s coaching ability is undeniable as he’s taken guys like J.P. Macura and Kaiser Gates (two players I bet you didn’t even know) and grown their games to the level of being able to make it to the NBA. We all know Mack is a great talent evaluator, a master motivator, and one hell of a developer of talent, and it’s why he’ll be able to land players for the rest of the time he’s here. But, for players who know they have to follow the rules and play college ball, Mack isn’t ready to compete with the top coaches just yet and 2020 was a great example of that.
That narrative is definitely set to change over the course of the next two or more seasons as guys like Nwora, DJ, Enoch, and Sam Williamson all project to be draftable players (some higher than others) which at least will help Mack show the top talent what he can do and help change the narrative on Louisville.