Drafting Louisville basketball all-decade teams

We took turns drafting the top players from the past decade of Louisville basketball. Who’s All-Star team is the best?

Without sports to begin the new decade, we decided to get creative and look back at the past decade of Louisville basketball.

Dozens of Cards have been a part of great moments, excellent seasons, and decorated careers. So, collectively, site experts Jacob Lane and Presley Meyer along with contributors Alex Stengel and Dalton Spence decided to draft the best of the best from the last decade.

We wanted to see what Cards All-Star teams would look like, and give fans the opportunity to decide for themselves how past teams and players would match up with each other.

Here’s how it went.

Criteria

• All players must have spent at least one season on a Louisville roster from 2009-10 to 2019-20.
• Snake draft format
• Each team drafts a starting five, 3 bench players, and a walk-on

Final results:

Each team is listed in the order that the perspective drafter chose, and the round in which the player was chosen.

Each number indicates what round the player was chosen in and the numbers in parenthesis denotes the overall pick where the player was taken. i.e. 3(9)= GM’s first pick, ninth pick overall.

Each player was drafted based on his success at the college level.

Presley

1. Russ Smith

2. (8) Preston Knowles

3. (9) Samardo Samuels

4. (16) Ray Spalding

5. (17) Dwayne Sutton

6. (24) Malik Williams

7. (25) Rakeem Buckles

8. (32) Edgar Sosa

Walk-on: David Levitch

GM comments: With the first pick, I felt like I had to take the best player first, and then draft around him. To me, Russ Smith was the clear cut No. 1 choice. From there, Preston Knowles was added to solidify the top backcourt among our teams. Samardo Samuels was the first true center off the board and added the most polished low post game of the 2010s to the roster.

From there, Ray Spalding added the size, length, and versatility that I needed, and Dwayne Sutton brings physicality, rebounding, and an “X factor” to the table.

Among the bench players, Malik Williams was added to give another dimension to the team. A lineup with Smith, Knowles, and Williams would be extremely difficult to defend on the perimeter, and it creates ideal spacing for Smith. Rakeem Buckles came off the board next as perhaps the best value pick of this draft, and Edgar Sosa serves as an excellent back-up to the two dynamic starting guards.

I got to draft the best player, but unlike the other teams, I feel that if you took away my best asset, I still have versatility and balance. 

Dalton

1. (2) Montrezl Harrell

2. (7) Terry Rozier

3. (10) Luke Hancock

4. (15) Chinanu Onuaku

5. (18) Wayne Blackshear

6. (23) Jerry Smith

7. (26) Jaylen Johnson

8. (31) Christen Cunningham

Walk-on: Tim Henderson

GM comments: G- Terry Rozier
One of Louisville’s top breakout players from the past decade, Rozier gives us a combo guard that score over 20, but also facilitate and distribute.

G/F- Wayne Blackshear
Wayne never quite lived up to his high expectations, but he did start on the 2013 National championship team. He gives us good all-around player that does a ton of things well.

F- Luke Hancock
We need a sharpshooter and Luke fits the bill. An underrated ball handler, Hancock has an extremely high basketball IQ and will be a headache for opposing defenses.

PF-Montrezl Harrell
Perhaps the best big from the past decade, Trez is reunited with some old teammates. Not many if any on the other teams can stop him from scoring, and he’s a beast on the boards.

C- Chinanu Onuaku
Good luck rebounding on this team. Onuaku will fit right alongside Harrell, offering a tertiary-scoring option and an effective rebounder. He also brings rim protection and a crafty post game.

Res. Jerry Smith
You can never have too many shooters, grabbing Jerry for clutch situations and spark off the bench, was the plan.

Res. Jaylen Johnson
Johnson will be a rotational big that brings a high energy and underrated offensive game. Giving the two main bigs a break, and replacing them with respectable talent, would keep the same intensity in the front court.

Res. Christen Cunningham
Getting a true point guard was the point of emphasis with my last pick. Surrounding CC with this amount of talent is dangerous and he might be the pick of the draft.

Walk-on: Tim Henderson
If I get Wichita State Tim Henderson, it’s over. A walk-on who can fill the role of shooting and pesky defense, Hendo was the best walk-on available.

Overall, the lineup is cohesive. Rozier and Cunningham are high-quality ball-handlers. Blackshear, Hancock, Smith, and Henderson are crafty shooters and could all contribute in volume. Harrell, Onuaku, and Johnson will bring high energy, significant scoring, rebounding, and rim protection.

Alex

1. (3) Peyton Siva

2. (6) Chane Behanan

3. (11) Kyle Kuric

4. (14) Terrence Jennings

5. (19) David Johnson

6. (22) Deng Adel

7. (27) Steven Enoch

8. (30) Chris Smith

Walk-on: Michael Baffour, AKA “Dark Slime”

GM comments: I know there’s other teams out there right now who think they have better teams than what I’ve put together today, and they might, but that’s why the games are still played. Some of the best teams ever assembled have still fallen short of winning the ultimate prize. So consider us the darkhorse if you want, but I wouldn’t sleep on this team for a second.

To no one’s surprise, I had to take the best overall player with the 3rd pick – one of the best point guards to ever come through Louisville: Peyton Siva.

But Siva can’t do it all on his own, and needs some bigger bodies to help facilitate the rock and rebound, hence my second choice, Chane Behanan. The guy is a big-bodied bruiser, and we’ll need his hard-nosed mentality on the court.

After adding Enoch and Terrance Jennings to solidify our size down low, I made a few splash picks with high-upside potential: David Johnson and Kyle Kuric.

With the always reliable Kuric waiting in his “korner” to drain another three or drive and slam it, and David Johnson being the freshman phenom he is, I wanted to get a little creative and implement a duel point guard lineup.

Having DJ and Siva on the court together will create an unparalleled court vision for the offense, while the high-level defense of Kuric, Siva, and Behanan should be enough to compensate for any shortfalls that Enoch or DJ might create.

Siva, David Johnson, Kuric, Behanan, and Enoch. Like I said, why not on the dark horse?

Jacob

1. (4) Jordan Nwora

2. (5) Gorgui Dieng

3. (12) Donovan Mitchell

4. (13) Damion Lee

5. (20) Trey Lewis

6. (21) Quentin Snider

7. (28) Mangok Mathiang

8. (29) Ryan McMahon

Walk-on: Jay Henderson

GM comments: To get the last pick felt like Presley (and the rest of the gang) was acknowledging his fear of my drafting ability, and deservedly so. To get Jordan Nwora first overall started off my team with an incredible scoring punch, especially from three. To follow that incredible pick up with Gorgui Dieng, easily the best big on the board (despite what Presley says) who brings shot-blocking to cover the defensive issues this roster may present at times as well as a back to the basket scorer. 

Then came my run on value picks; Donovan Mitchell, a dynamic scorer, and defender (and of course the team’s best dunker), Damion Lee (ditto, and a fairly decent dunker in his own right), Trey Lewis – who brings experienced playmaking and scoring at the lead guard spot, Quentin Snider, a steady offensive leader who can score it as needed, Mangok Mathiang, who will do all of the dirty work on the boards while defending the rim, and then finally, Ryan McMahon, who may be one of the best shooters on the board and I got him with my last pick.

My team is without question the best of the four. I have scoring, shooting, defending, rim protection, playmaking, leadership, experience, youth, athleticism, line up versatility, and everything in between. There’s not another lineup that I can’t match in some form or fashion, and do so without sacrificing scoring, rebounding, or defense.

Good luck fellas, y’all won’t stop this (fictional) team.

So, what do you think? Were there early surprises? Late steals?

Most importantly, who has the best team top to bottom? Be sure to vote on our Twitter poll and tell us where we got it wrong. Also, credit must be given to The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker for the idea. You can catch him and a few others drafting Kentucky players here ($).