Louisville basketball: Three centers who could fill remaining roster spot

Mattias Markuson

I’ve wanted to write about Mattias Markusson for quite some time (because how could I not?) but with Louisville already having Malik Williams and Aidan Igiehon on the roster, I didn’t see a scenario where another true center was added.

I was wrong, glad to admit it. As we mentioned before, Mack made it clear yesterday that the last scholarship will be used to grab a center who would be used to allow Williams more playing time at the four. That’s something that I think all Cardinal fans have been waiting and asking for, especially considering Williams’ ability to stretch the floor with his shooting as well as his athleticism & versatility.

With Igiehon looking to take a big step forward in his development, my guess is that will limit the available minutes for another big. That means as Mack looks for his last player for 2019-20 he’ll be looking for someone to play a similar role to Akoy Agau, rather than someone like Matt Haarms.

Adding a big name frontcourt player like Haarms could have a lot of positive effects as it relates to the overall performance of the Cardinals on the floor, but it could also have some unintended consequences such as limiting the potential and development of Igiehon.

While I could once again be proven wrong, I don’t expect to be. Igiehon is the future of Louisville basketball at the five spot, and as a Twitter user pointed out yesterday, the Cards have always been known for the ability to get the most out of second-year players moving into more prominent roles.

The thing that makes Markusson such an intriguing transfer seems pretty obvious considering his massive size. At 7’3, Markusson has been one of the tallest players in college basketball the last few seasons and has quietly developed into a productive player for Loyola Marymount, despite their struggles as a program.

The redshirt junior center has been in the portal for a few weeks now and up until I was 3/4 of the way done with this article there had been no connection with Louisville. However, Evan Daniels confirmed today that Markusson has in fact heard from Louisville, and has them in his final list of schools.

Playing for Mike Dunlap, Markusson saw his role increase each year as he continued to develop from the once-promising and unknown Swedish recruit into a reliable college big man. While he didn’t play in 2019-20 due to personal reasons, Markusson achieved nearly career-highs across the board, including games played, minutes played, scoring and free throw percentage in his last season with the program.

Anytime you can land a player with the size of Markusson it’s something you have to explore it. And while not all players moving up from low to mid-majors who are that size have the talent and ability to play at the next level, Markusson has proven he can but it would likely have to come in a smaller role than he’s played thus far.

While not playing last season is a sort of question mark when it comes to transitioning to a new program at a higher level, Markusson’s size, and ability to score around the basket make him a nice fit for the Cardinals back up center role. Offensively, he thrives setting picks and rolling to the basket, using his size to present a nice target for his teammates to throw it to and also cleans up around the rim as well.

Even at his size, Markusson has demonstrated the ability to guard more agile and athletic defenders. While he’s not laterally quick by any means, or much of a rim runner, Markusson displays great footwork and uses it defensively to challenges shots around the rim. His shot-blocking numbers are nowhere near you’d expect, but they don’t necessarily tell the full story of his ability to protect the paint.

Not many teams in the ACC would be able to deal with a frontcourt featuring the size of Williams and Markusson. That’s what has to make the addition of a player of his stature extremely intriguing.