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Louisville basketball: Transfer portal update. Who’s trending to the Cardinals? Vol. 7

By Jake Hook

The 2022-23 U of L basketball team huddled after an official team portrait on media day at the Kueber Center practice facility in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 20, 2022.Uofl Mediabb04 Sam
The 2022-23 U of L basketball team huddled after an official team portrait on media day at the Kueber Center practice facility in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 20, 2022.Uofl Mediabb04 Sam /
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Mackenzie Mgbako – Forward – 6’8″ – Class of 2023

For the third straight week, we have an update on the five-star forward who de-committed from Duke last month. Last week, it was announced that Mackenzie Mgbako would visit four schools, presumably the final four schools he is considering. Those schools are as follows:

  • St. John’s
  • Kansas
  • Indiana
  • Louisville

And that list is the exact order Mgbako is taking his visits. The McDonald’s All-American visited St. John’s last weekend, and he just wrapped up his visit to Kansas on Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/Andrew__Slater/status/1653545600300843008

Maybe the kid just doesn’t smile, but he doesn’t look the happiest to be in Lawrence, Kansas, and I can’t blame him. That’s the same face I’ve made any time I’ve had to spend time in the state.

Up next for Mgbako is a visit to Indiana this weekend, and it was announced on Tuesday that Louisville will get the final visit.

No final dates have been confirmed for his Louisville visit, and I wish he could’ve come in during Derby, but I’m still happy to see Kenny Payne get the final pitch to land his services. This also gives the staff the opportunity to know exactly what was offered at the other visits and hopefully, they can one-up those offers. I think Mgbako is one of, if not the most skilled player in the class of 2023.

Chris Brickley is one of the most well-known NBA trainers in the world and if he says Mgbako could get buckets in the NBA, then I believe him. I’m really unsure where he lands at this point. Early on, it seemed like Louisville was the clear choice to land him, but things have been quiet and confusing during Mgbako’s recruitment.

The name ‘Trilly Donovan’ seems like a troll Twitter account, but he’s actually been spot-on with nearly all of his transfer portal predictions.

The staff adding Danilo Jovanovich, a player that plays Mgbako’s exact same position, could be a bad sign of how they are feeling, but the team could very easily sign both of them and just have eight forwards on the roster. I certainly wouldn’t put it past them.

So, for now, it seems like Mgbako could end up on any of the four teams he’s visiting. Here’s to hoping the staff wows him on his final visit and lands his services.

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