Louisville extends losing streak to 5 in loss to Wake Forest

Head Football Coach Jeff Brohm was in attendance for the ACC matchup between the Louisville Cardinals and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons with quarterback transfer Jack Plummer and now committed wide receiver transfer Jamari Thrash.

Jeff Brohm was calmly watching the Louisville basketball team as he was quietly wreaking havoc during the 2023 All-American Bowl as he received commitments from four-star Jamari Johnson and the number one linebacker in the nation for the Class of 2024, TJ Capers.

Despite the record of the Louisville men’s basketball team, Jeff Brohm’s love for Louisville is unwavering, which could also be said for Head Basketball Coach Kenny Payne. Kenny Payne, cming from the leadership of Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari via the New York Knicks has always been known for his recruiting prowess, but not so well known for his ability to coach x’s and o’s.

Once Kenny Payne added Nolan Smith and Danny Manning to his staff in the offseason, Louisville fans were upbeat about the situation and positive on the outlook of the program. However, from the fan’s perspective, that is not so much the case now. From the players and coaches’ perspective, it’s much bigger than basketball.

Before these student-athletes can play as a team, they have to buy in to the culture that Coach Payne is establishing and now with fifteen games left in the regular season, it appears that these athletes are buying into what Kenny Payne is saying and they are starting to play hard.

The next step becomes consistency because the first half for the Cardinals was more on the lackadaisical side of things, but the run they put together at the end of the game to bring it within a mere eight points after being down 43-26 at half is a huge accomplishment.

Louisville outscored Wake Forest 46-37 in the second half, so there was huge progress from the first half to the second half. Now there just needs to be consistency. Mike James was the leading scorer for the Cardinals with 24 points, followed closely behind by El Ellis who finished with 20 points.

Once Louisville can settle into their schemes on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball for a full forty minutes, then the momentum will begin to shift. There are vivid evidences that prove that the momentum is already beginning to shift, but the biggest area of improvement would be a shift in the scoreboard when the final buzzer sounds.

That is what Louisville is working towards and Coach Kenny Payne has them headed in the right direction. Next up for the Cardinals is Clemson on the road this coming Wednesday at 9:00 PM EST.