Louisville basketball: Three bold predictions for Boston College game

Jae’Lyn Withers thrives when playing someone his own size

All season, Jae’Lyn Withers has had to deal with players with more length than him. Whether it was Charles Bassey or the seven-foot duo of Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter, WIthers has had to battle week in and week out on the glass and has had a hard time on offense against taller defenders.

The 6’8″ redshirt freshman has been a team player this year who has had to shift positions to center to start the season because of depth concerns after senior center Malik Williams went down with an injury.

Against Boston College, Withers will get a much needed chance to go up against bigs his own size. The Eagles do not have any 7-footers. The tallest player that garners significant minutes is 6’9″ forward James Karnik.

I will be very interested to see how Withers competes in this game against players of similar size and stature of himself. He has done a fine job of rebounding in a tough situation and he has showed off signs of dominance as an offensive threat at times as well.

Withers blew up for 20 points against Prairie View A&M earlier this year where he started the game 8-for-8 from the field and was scoring at all three levels of the floor. Getting him going once again would be a big boost from the Cardinals who have been looking for a consistent third option this season that has not yet sprung themselves.

The young Withers could certainly be that player with a couple of solid performances.