Louisville basketball’s new No. 1 target is clear after Nate Ament update

It was reported yesterday morning that the Duke Blue Devils have a "very slight" advantage over two SEC giants, Tennessee and Kentucky, to land the consensus 5-star recruit, Nate Ament. Travis Branaham of 247Sports reported that Pat Kelsey and the Louisville Cardinals lost a lot of ground and seem to be on the outside looking in for the No. 4 overall prospect.

Ament is a 6-foot-9 power forward with a slim build but elite scoring ability. The 5-star forward is the perfect player for this Kelsey team, as the Cardinals need a player who can stretch the floor on the offensive side but provide height and length on the defensive side. Ament has a fluid shot and can either attack the rim and finish through contact or use his craft and shiftiness to post up and hit a fadeaway jumper.

After Kelsey brought in three of the top 15 players from the transfer portal, the Cardinals will have a lethal backcourt. Louisville secured commitments from 5-star Adrian Wooley and two 4-stars in Isaac McKneely and Ryan Conwell. All three players shot above 40 percent from beyond the arc last season and made more than 70 3-pointers. Louisville will run a guard-heavy lineup, but now they need an elite power forward who can help space the floor and play solid defense.

Louisville basketball’s new No. 1 target is clear after Nate Ament update

Ament would have been a dream come true if Kelsey had landed the 5-star, as the thought of Ament and 5-star commit Mikel Brown Jr. playing together would have been one of the best duos in all of college basketball. The Cardinals must now go to the drawing boards and try to find a player with skills similar to Ament's from the transfer portal. Or do they?

Kelsey and his staff don't have to look too far for their power forward, as the Cardinal's No. 1 goal this offseason should now be to bring back Kasean Pryor. The 6-foot-10 forward played in just six full games last season as he tore his ACL in the Cardinal's seventh game against Oklahoma.

Pryor averaged 12 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks in his seven games. The power forward demonstrated elite skills on both ends of the floor and was able to score in many ways for Kelsey's Cardinals. Pryor is the perfect player to play with Brown and Company, as his ability to hit mid-range jumpers at a reliable rate and be a crucial piece on defense is exactly what Kelsey is looking for.

The solution to the Cardinal's concern for a stretch four has been right in front of them this whole time. Pryor must become Kelsey's main priority now for the remainder of the offseason, as most of the big-name targets are off the board. Before his time with Louisville, he played a season with USF, where he led the Bulls in rebounds, steals, and blocks and averaged the third-highest points per game for USF. Pryor averaged 13.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 steals per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from downtown, and 81.7 percent from the charity stripe.

Pryor can be a dominant force in the paint and slam it for two, or he can also post up and hit a nice fadeaway jumper. The Cardinals desperately need a player with this skill, and while Ament was the dream target, Kelsey must do all he can to bring Pryor to this team next year.