Louisville basketball: Should Chris Mack take a chance on local transfer?

A former Southern Indiana superstar is in the transfer portal, and despite being vastly underrecruited he could be a target for Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball program.

Louisville basketball fans have grown to be fond of players who hail from 502 or its surrounding communities. The list goes on and on of players who grew up in the area dreaming about playing for the University of Louisville only to have it achieved years later on their way to becoming legends.

From DeJuan Wheat, Jerry Eaves, Manuel Forrest, Wes Unseld, Brian Kiser, Darrell Griffith, Jason Osborne, Chane Behanan, Dwayne Sutton, Larry O’ Bannon, Christen Cunningham and everyone in between, Louisville has historically been pretty good at being able to reel in players from around the area and turn them into superstars.

However, for every Dwayne Sutton, there’s a Kelan Martin, meaning one local player who normally wouldn’t be on Louisville’s radar but because of their local ties, it makes sense to bring them in. While hindsight is always 20/20, it’s been difficult at times to watch players from the 502 (and surrounding communities) go elsewhere to play their college ball, especially knowing the Cards never even got involved.

Sutton and Martin are perfect examples of what can happen when you do and don’t take chances on local talent. Sutton is a player who didn’t get the offers many thought he would, which ended with him ultimately leaving to play at small low-major UNC Asheville. As we know, it took him dominating as a freshman to catch the attention of Louisville, where he ultimately would end up after transferring.

For Martin, he was a guy who never caught the attention of Rick Pitino. At 6’5, 210 pounds, Martin’s lack of size led to many high-major programs passing on him, including Louisville, which led to him playing four years at Butler. During that time he developed into one of the best players in program history averaging career totals of 15.1 points, 5.2 rebounds while shooting 44 percent from the field and 38 percent from three. He’d go on to finish as a 3x All-Big East selection before making the Minnesota Timberwolves roster.

In some instances, you have to take chances (like Sutton), while in other scenarios it’s a no brainer. That is exactly the case with former local high school hoops star, Sean East, who spent his first season playing at UMass before announcing his intentions to transfer late last week.

Many of you who are local hoops junkies are probably extremely familiar with East from his playing days at New Albany High School where he starred alongside of former Louisville target and now Boston Celtic, Romeo Langford.

During his time at New Albany High School, East developed into a star despite oftentimes being overshadowed by the larger than life Indiana star, Romeo Langford. More times than not when watching highlights of Langford or even of just New Albany, East would stand out like a sore thumb with his incredible playmaking.

Being overshadowed by Langford likely wasn’t easy, as many schools were too busy drooling over the five-star McDonald’s All-American to notice just how special the guard playing next to him was. In fact, with just a few small offers, East decided to take his talents to the prep-level in order to better prepare himself for the college level and giving him more time to draw interest from colleges.

After averaging 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and two steals per game playing for Combine Academy, East committed to UMass over other mid-major programs and officially began his college career.

It didn’t take long for his skills to shine for the Minutemen as he became one of the better players for a team that was trying to rebuild. In a season where he started 30 games, East averaged a little over nine points, five assists, two rebounds, and a steal per game at UMass.

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One could liken East’s freshman season to Louisville’s David Johnson’s first year. There were lots of ups and downs and games and scenarios where he fit better than others, but he flashed a ton of potential situationally. East had a game at Akron where he dropped 26 points and six assists. He had 16 and 9 against Yale and 18 and 8 at La Salle. He’d go on to finish the season with16 games where he accounted for six or more assists, showing what many who watched him at New Albany knew already, the kid is a playmaker.

Louisville has their guy next year at the point in Johnson, but East is another local guy who could come in and bring versatility to either guard position.

Depending on whether or not players are allowed to take advantage of the one-time transfer rule this season, East would have the potential to perhaps come in and play right away wherever he goes.

According to recruiting guru Jake Weingarten, East has heard from a few high-major programs, including Creighton and Arkansas, as well as several other prominent mid-majors. East’s freshman season showed the potential to develop into a really good collegiate guard, and wherever he lands, that program will be getting a STEAL.

Here’s to hoping Mack shows some interest in another potential local stud.