Louisville basketball: Three potential transfer targets for Cards

Big man

Yor Anei

Status: Immediately eligible

2019 stats: 8.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.9 bpg

Another relatively new name to the transfer portal who could be of interest to Louisville basketball head coach Chris Mack is Oklahoma State transfer Yor Anei.

If you keep up even closely with college basketball news, you’re probably aware by now that the Oklahoma State basketball program was served with a one-year postseason ban earlier this month in lieu of the federal investigation into college basketball recruiting corruption that revealed multiple violations by a former assistant coach.

Now because of that, at least one player has put his name into the transfer portal in an attempt to land with a program that will have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. Well, now may be a good time for me to stop writing then considering many believe Louisville will be hit with a two-year ban, right? Wrong. As Chris Mack told us on the podcast, timing is still up in the air on when a decision will be officially announced especially as the program will “more thang likely” go through the newly appointed IARP – Independent Accountability Resolution Process – committee.

There’s literally no idea how long that could take, especially if the review process reveals anything that could be needed to be fought in a courtroom against the NCAA and as Mack also told us he believes until then he’s in a prime position to recruit.

Sure, Anei may not be willing to go to a program that is in troubles of their own with the NCAA but if there’s any sort of confidence that the decision could drag a year or two Louisville would present a very intriguing home to the rising junior.

Anei would bring a high-level of experience to the center position for Louisville, having 55 games as a starter under his belt in two years, and a player capable of playing in a role that doesn’t require 30-plus minutes.

Ok State head coach Mike Boynton has taken a cautious approach with the big man’s minutes, playing him just an average of 21.9 minutes per game, but what he’s gotten in return has been nearly tenfold. In just two years, Anei has proven to be one of the program’s top shot blockers of all time, totaling 145 blocks and a career average of 2.27 blocks per game. According to his player profile, Anei has 15 career games with four or more blocks, which ranked fourth in program history, and in 2019-20 finished 13th nationally in block percentage.

Anei has complimented his elite-level defensive abilities with an ever-growing offensive game that mostly focuses on capitalizing on offensive rebounds under the rim and easy put-backs. However, last season there was more back to the basket post-up opportunities for Anei as were there more easy finishing opportunities around the rim thanks to his ability to rim run and get himself into a good position.

The packline defense would be a new challenge for Anei, and there could be issues with him being able to move quick enough to switch/hedge onto smaller guards in pick and roll situations, but considering his length and size he’s still more than dangerous as a shot-blocker closing from behind.

Anei moving to Louisville would be a step up considering where the two programs have been the last two seasons, and he’d give Mack an elite level rim-protector and defensive player to use in tandem with senior big man Malik Williams. On paper, it would make no sense for Anei to come to Louisville considering there’s already a primary center on the roster – but considering the fact that Williams has suffered from foot injuries and never played more than an average of 18 minutes per night may make Mack second guess how he rotates his bigs.

Sure, Aidan Igiehon is a former four-star recruit who should be able to take a big leap this season but we’re not sure of his overall progress just yet and he’s suffered from injuries of his own that because of the ongoing pandemic may need more time to recover from.

Anei would give Mack another big to play with Williams and Igiehon like Steven Enoch did, where minutes can be controlled and production won’t be sacrificed.