Louisville basketball: The biggest needs ahead of the 2020-21 season

Versatile, experienced do it all guards 

The 2020-21 squad could potentially most greatly benefit from two guards who can wear multiple hats for Chris Mack.

Louisville was set to return David Johnson, Josh Nickelberry, and Darius Perry before the senior-to-be announced his intentions to transfer for his final season of eligibility. That now leaves as a massive hole in the backcourt for the Cards, and Chris Mack will have to address that over the coming weeks.

As a freshman, David Johnson emerged into the starting point guard by seasons end after missing the first third of the year with an injured shoulder and was every bit as good as advertised. The 6’5 guard showed the ability to lead Louisville as the point guard, playmaking at an elite enough of a level to catch NBA scouts eye.

We know Johnson will return and continue on as the team’s lead guard, but it remains to be seen what role Nickelberry will play. Coming into college scouts and coaches were bullish on his scoring abilities and with Ryan McMahon, Fresh Kimble, and Perry not on the roster, he’ll be relied upon to provide that even after playing limited minutes in 2019.

Johnson obviously stands to only improve as he continues to learn in Mack’s system, but he is the only player who has proven he can get into the lane and distribute on a consistent basis.

Mack will likely be in search of a transfer who can be everything this team lacks. He will need a college-ready scorer to play alongside Johnson and potentially incoming wing Jay Scrubb. Mack also will need another guard who can be a specialist of sorts that can provide Louisville a driver and finisher around the basket, bring length on defense, and be able to keep opponents honest from beyond the arc.

We saw it with Fresh Kimble and Ryan McMahon this past season, and Mack will likely try to go away from it next season, but when David Johnson left the floor in the latter half of the season, Louisville’s offense went stagnant.

The Cardinals need one more player outside of Johnson who can initiate the offense on a consistent basis. If the Cardinals can do that, they only stand to improve going into next season.

There have been a ton of players hit the transfer portal over the last few days, several of whom could and should be targets of Chris Mack’s (we’ll detail this more in a couple of days) as well as a few high-school seniors who could be let out of their signed letter of intent’s should their respective coach be let go.