Painful Departure: The Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball Key Player is Gone Some few minutes Ago.
Several players on the roster are anticipated to use the transfer portal after Louisville men’s basketball had yet another dismal season and lost head coach Kenny Payne. On Monday, March 18, the first day the college basketball transfer portal was available, that movement got underway.
Freshmen Curtis Williams, Kaleb Glenn, and Koron Davis—who was fired from the team in mid-December—all declared on the first day of the program that they intended to transfer from Louisville. The trio enters the NCAA college basketball transfer portal, joining an increasing number of players nationwide. Since then, Danilo Jovanovich, JJ Traynor, and Dennis Evans have followed suit.
The Division I Council authorized modifications to the NCAA Transfer Portal for basketball in October of last year, shortening the duration from 60 consecutive days to 45 consecutive days. Sixty-one percent of players who visited the portal did so in the first thirty days, according to the NCAA.
Louisville and many other teams will be able to make significant off-season squad adjustments using the transfer portal in order to improve their standing before the 2024–25 campaign. A (rapid) reconstruction depends on selecting the right coach with the correct recruiting strategy for a team whose supporters are “dying for the program to succeed.”
During the transfer process, Cardinal Authority will keep tabs on the players leaving Louisville. Cardinal Authority will also follow portal targets as they materialize, starting with the hiring of a new head coach for the men’s basketball team. Subscribe to the Cardinal Authority newsletter for free to ensure that you don’t miss any of the upcoming headlines.
JOVANOVICH DANILO
Danilo Jovanovich, a forward for Louisville, played just 8.3 minutes per game on average during his one and only season there.
Jovanovich is currently en route to the transfer portal.
The former Miami transfer will be available through the portal for the second consecutive offseason, according to Cardinal Authority. Due to an injury, he only participated in one game during the Hurricanes 2023 Final Four during his first year of college ball at Miami.
Jovanovich started five of the 20 games he played in at Louisville. In 8.3 minutes per game on average, he scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. In a January road defeat to Wake Forest, he scored five goals in his highest-scoring game.
The college basketball transfer portal will be accessible to Dennis Evans, a freshman big man from Louisville, a source told 247Sports on Tuesday.
Evans, a 7-foot-1 center from Riverside, California, was one of the best shot blockers in the country when he came to Louisville as the No. 25 player in the class of 2023. Evans was ranked higher because of his long-term potential than because of what was anticipated of him in his rookie season. However, a combination of his limited playing time, health problems, and another subpar season for the Cardinals led to Evans averaging only 1.6 points in seven games.
J.J. Tracy
Picture courtesy of USA TODAY Sports/Michael McCammon
J.J. Traynor
March 19 was the entry date into the portal.
The Bardstown, Kentucky native Traynor was gradually making his way back into the lineup until he re-injured his shoulder during practice in early January. Traynor’s injury occurred during pregame warmups at DePaul. After that, he needed surgery.
Through the first eight games, Traynor—the team’s most seasoned player—averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds. Earlier this month, he participated in Senior Day events and expressed uncertainty about his future plans.
He is eligible for one more season.
