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Louisville basketball: Transfer portal update. Who’s trending to the Cardinals? Vol. 8

ByJake Hook|
The Cardinal mascot hyped the crowd during pre-game introductions before Louisville took on Lipscomb at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville Tuesday night. The Cards fell to the Bisons, 75-67. Dec. 20, 2022Jf Ul Lipscomb Aj6t1576
The Cardinal mascot hyped the crowd during pre-game introductions before Louisville took on Lipscomb at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville Tuesday night. The Cards fell to the Bisons, 75-67. Dec. 20, 2022Jf Ul Lipscomb Aj6t1576
2 of 8

Tre White – Forward – 6’7 – University of Southern California

I ended last week’s update by saying this:

"“Stay tuned for next Friday’s article. I’m betting we’ll have at least one new commitment by then.”"

I’m not sure how much it pays, but my bet hit.

I wish I could say I had some sort of inside information into us landing Tre White, but that was just an educated guess. I was almost certain we’d land one of either Tre White or RJ Luis. I broke down a four-game sample of White’s game, and you can find that here:

And if you don’t want to scroll through 35 videos, and just want a quick summary of his game, then this tweet is for you.

Tre White was a consensus top-50 recruit coming out of high school, and after an impactful Year One at USC, he hit the transfer portal. White almost immediately became the starting 3/4 for the Trojans last season, and he made an instant impact as a true freshman.

White averaged 9.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and he shot better than 47% from the field, in a little less than 30 minutes a night. After watching film and reading a comment from Twitter user Fire Your Advisor, I realized his best player comparison is Dwayne Sutton.

Both are somewhat undersized for the position they play, the 3/4, but both are extremely strong in the paint, great rebounders, and great hustlers. If White wants to fully transform into the former Cardinal favorite, he’ll need to improve his outside shot and cut down on his turnovers.

But, I think White has a very real chance of becoming Dwayne Sutton 2.0 or better. White was a Top-30 player in the transfer portal, according to On3, and he’s rated higher than guys like Keyon Menifield, Joe Girard, and El Ellis.

I think he is a nice talent with tons of upside. My biggest concerns with him are that he’s a borderline forward, and we already have seven other forwards on the roster. Not to mention, he’s not the most consistent from behind the arc. He shot just under 26% from behind the three-point line (on just 1.5 3PA per night).

I think White will make a nice impact next season. I am just curious to see how the staff uses him. I think he’s best used as a small-ball 4. He’s strong enough to hold his own on defense, he’s shifty enough to get around some 4’s, and he’s still going to rebound well enough to justify playing as a big.

I fear the staff might try playing him at the two, which would be a mistake in my opinion. He’s just not fast enough to defend guards or get past them on offense. He’s also not much of a playmaker, and that’s something this roster needs more of.

Overall, I’m excited about the addition of Tre White. He had some really impressive moments as a true freshman last year. He does have some things he needs to improve on, but all players do. If used correctly, I think he will be a fan-favorite by the end of the season.

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