Louisville basketball: Moving day sets next season in motion

University of Louisville assistant basketball coach Nolan Smith is photographed with a fan before throwing out the first pitch at the Louisville Bats game. April 21, 2022Af5i2957
University of Louisville assistant basketball coach Nolan Smith is photographed with a fan before throwing out the first pitch at the Louisville Bats game. April 21, 2022Af5i2957

Yesterday, on Memorial Day 2023, the Louisville Basketball program welcomed several new faces to the University of Louisville campus on South Third Street. Kenny Payne is expecting to see nine new faces this summer, and seven of them made their treks from all over the country to Louisville, Kentucky.

Freshman Dennis Evans and USC transfer Tre White came from California, freshman Trentyn Flowers came from North Carolina, Miami transfer Danilo Jovanovich came from Wisconsin, freshman Kaleb Glenn came from Indiana, freshman Curtis Williams came from Michigan, and Illinois transfer Skyy Clark came from Tennessee.

Two more athletes are expected to join soon, JUCO transfer Koron Davis and New York freshman Ty-Laur Johnson. Ty-Laur Johnson, the consensus No. 1 overall player in the state of New York, is a de-commit from Memphis and the last addition to the Louisville basketball team.

For a team that needed another ball-handling guard, Kenny Payne landed one of the best available freshman guards in the country completely under the radar. Now, the remaining four players can welcome their new teammates to the team. In case you have forgotten, the four remaining players are Mike James, JJ Traynor, Emmanuel Okorafor, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, with Hercy Miller as a walk-on.

The new-look Louisville team will be full of new faces next season and full of fresh talent. The old aura of the clouded program will receive a breath of fresh air and a new life injected into the program. Kenny Payne capped off a magnificent offseason with the late addition of Ty-Laur Johnson and set the excitement for next season at an all-time high.

Now, with seven of those nine players on campus, the camaraderie and the brotherhood can be built among the players and that kind of cohesion is exactly what last year’s Louisville basketball team lacked on the court. But, a new era has officially dawned.