Louisville basketball: 5 things I learned from Chris Mack

Malik Williams is the clear leader of Team 107

One of the more interesting yet under the radar storylines entering the 2020-21 season is the amount of youth that Chris Mack will have on the roster.

It’s never easy to replace six veterans, especially players who have been the driving force behind 44 wins over a two year period, but that’s exactly what Mack will be tasked with this year as Darius Perry, Steven Enoch, Dwayne Sutton, Ryan McMahon, Fresh Kimble, and Jordan Nwora are all either off to the NBA, graduated, or playing for another program.

That leaves six sophomores and two freshmen to go along with Williams and the two new graduate transfers, meaning that next season will in fact be one that features a lot of growing pains. So how is Mack dealing with having such a young team in a rather difficult time?

Leaning on his leaders.

Mack said, “Certainly going to have a lot of new faces. guys are going to have to assume roles they didn’t have a year ago. A guy like Malik Williams has to provide an awful lot of leadership. He’s seen everything. He’s seen the good, the bad, the ugly. He’s been a guy that’s provided great leadership over the last year or so, but we’re going to rely on that even more.”

Last year we saw Williams develop into the vocal leader of the team, and thrive in that role. Mack told local media last season:

"“Malik means a lot to our team. Not just the statistics, which continue to get better offensively as he gains confidence, but just his presence on the defensive end, his voice, his leadership in practice. He has come a long way.”"

However, as Mack pointed out to us, it wasn’t always easy for him to lead guys the same age and class as him. That’s why his leadership could be even more important this year on a team where the majority of players are young.

“The fact that he has younger guys and guys growing into different roles will really help his leadership, sometimes it’s kind of difficult may be to provide that leadership with guys that are in your class that came in together whether it’s Jordan or it’s Darius, and Malik is really looking forward to that challenge.”

The group of players that will be looking to help Louisville get back to the NCAA Tournament and win their first game since 2016 are young but that doesn’t mean the team won’t be special:

Coach Mack said, “I think that we have some talent that’s going to make a step forward. Guys like David Johnson and Samuell Williamson need to grow from being inconsistent, spectacular at times, to player we can really count on night in and night out. I know that they are really looking forward to that challenge, they are talented enough to do that and their mental makeup has grown since entering college. We’re really excited to get our hands on those guys and forming what I think could be a really talented and good team this coming year.”

There’s still quite some time until the season starts, but at least we now have a better understanding of where things stand for Louisville basketball ahead of the 2020-21 season.