Big Red Louie
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Probabilities for each Louisville basketball player’s return next season

By Jacob Lane

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - MARCH 07: David Johnson #13 of the Louisville Cardinals dribbles in the first half during a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena on March 7, 2020 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - MARCH 07: David Johnson #13 of the Louisville Cardinals dribbles in the first half during a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena on March 7, 2020 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KY – JANUARY 25: David Johnson #13 of the Louisville Cardinals looks to pass the ball up court during a game against the Clemson Tigers at KFC YUM! Center on January 25, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville defeated Clemson 80-62. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – JANUARY 25: David Johnson #13 of the Louisville Cardinals looks to pass the ball up court during a game against the Clemson Tigers at KFC YUM! Center on January 25, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville defeated Clemson 80-62. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

David Johnson

Guard – Sophomore

Probability of return: 68 percent

Alright, you’ve hung in there this long so thank you.

I wanted to go 69 percent to show you just how confident I am in Louisville getting their developing star guard back, for what could easily be his last season before truly jettisoning off to the NBA, but for the reasons I mentioned above for Sam Williamson, I have to express some concern.

Before suffering a shoulder during practice in the later parts of the offseason, David Johnson went from being a local kid who had potential to a guy who could potentially swing the positioning for the Cards long-term.

His length, athleticism, and overall style of play very much matched what Chris Mack had traditionally liked in his guards during his time at Xavier and it looked like it was only a matter of time before he became the starting point guard.

The shoulder injury clearly got in the way of that, but when he returned to the lineup during the non-conference schedule it was clear that Johnson was as good as advertised. His game took a little time to develop, as he made the traditional mistakes you see from a freshman guard on both sides of the ball, but once he got rolling it was hard to stop.

Mack joked about hearing from fans on social media about inserting Johnson into the lineup, but how could the Cardinals head coach really not make the move? The freshman had clearly become Louisville’s best guard and gave them the highest ceiling long-term. The Duke game where he outplayed eventual ACC Player of the Year Tre Jones scoring 17 points and dishing out a game-high seven assists.

His season stats don’t the story of just how good he was down the stretch for Louisville. It got to the point where scouts coming to see Jordan Nwora and other opposing players started asking about him instead.

With Williamson playing the leading scorer role (or at least half of the duo with Scrubb), expect Johnson to become the court general.

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