Louisville basketball: Three options for final 2020-21 scholarship

Stay at 11

Others have suggested that maybe the Cards don’t need to add another player for the 2020-21 season. While I completely disagree and will touch on that shortly, Louisville does have 11 scholarship players on the roster when you including incoming freshman D’Andre Davis & JJ Traynor, and will go two-deep (or deeper) at every position leaving no immediate hole on the roster.

Mack played with just 10 guys on the roster back in his first season as head coach, and while depth was an issue when injuries or foul trouble were present, for the most part, it all worked as the Cards satisfied the first round of their NCAA scholarship reduction penalty. So why couldn’t Mack do it again?

When asked about the need for another player, Mack made it well known what they don’t want to do.

“That (the frontcourt) would be the first area of need, but we’re not going to fill the scholarship just to get a warm body in there, Mack said”

Chris Mack spoke with local media this week and was asked about his plans for the final scholarship, specifically if there was a need in the front court. He said.

"“That would be the first area of need, but we’re not going to fill the scholarship just to get a warm body in there. We feel like we have a good enough roster right now to be one of the better teams in the league and compete for a title like we did this past year.”"

Even with Louisville already having 11 really good players capable of making up a top ACC team, I still I don’t think that’s the best move.

From a numbers perspective, Mack could absolutely afford to hold onto the scholarship instead of using it for what he referred to as a “warm body.” The Cards will have plenty of players capable of handling big minutes next season, and while it may come with a sacrifice of winning games early, it could lead to even better development of those players down the stretch of the season.

However, when you look at the roster from a larger perspective and consider some of the outside factors (including the looming NCAA punishment) that could be a very dangerous solution. After the 2020-21 season, Louisville could once again see a mass roster turnover as Williams, Jones, and Minlend Jr. will all graduate, while David Johnson & Sam Williamson easily could be off to the NBA.

Thinking about having to add seven new players in an offseason where the NCAA may or may not have handed down the Louisville punishment, especially coming off the 2020 recruiting cycle, could lead to another year of major disappointment and a lot of concern about the long-term positioning of the program. While adding one player won’t necessarily make or break that from happening, there is a solution that could help aid both in 2020-21 and beyond.

So what’s the solution?