Louisville basketball: Injury-plagued Cards could be stronger later

Graduate transfer Charles Minlend will miss 4-6 weeks for Louisville basketball after suffering a knee injury in practice.

After senior captain Malik Williams announced on social media last week that he would miss 2-3 months due to a broken foot, Louisville basketball announced today that graduate transfer Charles Minlend will miss the start of the 2020-21 season after suffering a torn MCL in practice on November 5. Louisville Basketball released a statement on Minlend’s injury Monday morning and Coach Chris Mack had this to say about his grad transfer’s injury:

"“Charles suffered a tear in his left MCL from practice last Thursday. He was having a good preseason to that point. He has been a positive presence every day from the moment he arrived in June. We will miss him on the floor until mid-December. Knowing Charles, he will do everything needed to get back on the floor ready to go.”"

Malik Williams and Charles Minlend will now be out for an extensive period of time to begin the season for the Cards, along with the question marks looming around sophomores Josh Nickelberry and Sam Williamson, who are also dealing with injuries of their own. Chris Mack joined Jeff Greer, host of the ‘Floyd Street’s Finest’ podcast Monday morning and gave some important updates about his squad and the injuries they are facing:

"“Obviously Malik Williams is going to be out quite a while with a broken foot. Charles Minlend tore his MCL the other day in practice and so he is going to be out 4-6 weeks so we don’t anticipate him being back until mid-December at the earliest. And then Josh Nickelberry and Sam Williamson really have not practiced in the last 2 to 3 weeks because of different issues they have with their knees. Josh already had surgery in late summer so he is continuing to get back from that and Sam has just strained his patellar tendon so it is more day-to-day, week-to-week, but it keeps stretching on, so we have been really stretched thin.”"

Be sure to check out Jeff Greer’s full interview with Chris Mack being released on Wednesday.

Minlend, who was projected to be a big contributor early on for this Louisville team as they find their identity, now leaves the Cards with not much experience off the bench. Quinn Slazinski and Aidan Igiehon do have some playing experience dating back to their freshmen seasons last year. But, they will have to step up into bigger roles this year with the injuries that have plagued the Cards early on, especially if Nickelberry and Williamson miss the start of the season as well.

Having two experienced guards in Carlik Jones and David Johnson should help the Cards a lot early on in the season and be the two “go-to” guys for Chris Mack’s squad until their team is 100% healthy. This youthful Louisville squad will face some challenges early on that could prove beneficial deeper into the 2020-21 season, especially if they can overcome the adversity of these injuries early on.