Louisville Basketball: Recapping the red and white scrimmage
By Caleb Hall
Mike James and Dennis Evans shine in Louisville’s red and white scrimmage
The Louisville Cardinals held their annual players red and white scrimmage last night and they showed some promise for what could be a good basketball season for the cards.
The teams were as followed:
Red: Mike James, Dennis Evans, Brandon Huntley Hatfield, Koron Davis, Ty-Laur Johnson, Tre White, Aiden McCool, and Danilo Jovanovich
White: Skyy Clark, JJ Traynor, Kaleb Glenn, Hercy Miller, Emmanuel Okorafor, Zan Payne, and Curtis Williams.
The scrimmage only lasted 32 minutes and the score was reset at the start of each half. The white team won the first set 34-20, while the red team won the second set 31-28. The game was not broadcasted in any media so the only way to watch the game was to be at the KFC Yum Center last night. From the people that were there, the atmosphere seemed to be a lot better than the thoughts on the team a year ago.
The players that seemed to rise above the rest were Tre White, Dennis Evans, Skyy Clark, and all of the returning players from last year. White finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists at the end of the game and he undoubtedly looked like the best player on the team. Dennis Evans also looked phenomenal last night. His game looked a little raw offensively, but at the height of 7’1 he is bound to score some points. His defensive presence is what most were raving about, as he had 5 blocks and 5 rebounds to go with it.
Mike James and Dennis Evans scored 12 points a piece while Skyy Clark and JJ Traynor also looked good by scoring 11 points a piece. Curtis Williams looked quite slow to start the game but scored all ten of his points in the 2nd half to make up for his poor first half performance. This is also while not even mentioning guys like Kaleb Glenn, Emmanuel Okorafor, Koron Davis, and Ty-Laur Johnson, who are just pieces of this team that seem to fly around the court and make plays.
If you’re basing next season just based off of this player on player scrimmage then the Cardinals may be looking dangerous this coming season. We can’t too ahead of ourselves however.
Head coach Kenny Payne had this to say right after the scrimmage:
"I just thought today was good overall, we had some nervous guys out there to start in, which is normal, the first time playing in front of people. But overall, I’m pleased with it. I would like to tighten up on some turnovers and stuff like that, but I think you can tell that this is a competitive group, this is a together group."
Kenny Payne seems to have his team playing some good basketball and the Louisville Cardinals are looking to get back on track in the 2023-24 basketball season. Things look especially good after a successful red and white scrimmage last night at the KFC Yum Center.