El Ellis- Louisville basketball star in 2022-23- has officially entered the transfer portal. How the Cards will balance things out without their most productive player.
Louisville basketball will all but officially be without its best player from the 2022-23 season when it begins a new in 2023-24.
After announcing that he would be declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft with an option to return to school this coming season, concern began to grow behind the scenes that El Ellis would return to college, but not to Louisville.
After Louisville’s final home game this season, Ellis said that regardless of whether he stays or goes, he would not be looking at other schools.
However, as soon as the season ended, the Louisville basketball staff reportedly reached out to a number of high-level guards, already landing one transfer in Illinois combo Skyy Clark and an incoming freshman, Trentyn Flowers.
On Thursday, Ellis officially entered the portal, all but assuring that he will not be a Cardinal in 2023-24.
There is always the option for Ellis to remove his name from the portal and return to school, but it feels like the writing is on the wall that his days playing for Kenny Payne and company are over.
By losing Ellis, Louisville loses 28% of its scoring, 47% of its assists, 22% of its steals, 29.5% of its three points made, and 18% of its total minutes played from a season ago.
What’s next?
For Ellis, it feels like everyone has been saying it for a month now.
Ellis is a North Carolina native. He plays exceptionally well in the state of North Carolina and against North Carolina teams.
He has a chip on his shoulder after being overlooked by North Carolina schools out of JUCO.
Now, he has the opportunity to go back home. Most believe he will do so.
As for Louisville basketball?
An hour after Ellis officially entered the portal, the Men’s basketball Recruiting/ Contact period began from April 6th at noon until April 10th. After a four-day dead period, it will resume again from the 13th to the 20th.
This is when fans are likely to find out about the most action happening between coaches and prospective recruits.
Fans should be looking to hear a little bit of movement in the coming days, hopefully in the form of the Louisville basketball staff reaching out or even hosting players on campus.
No Excuses- Louisville must land more guards
It’s likely that Louisville bringing in Clark and Flowers to pair with the returning Mike James was one of the final straws to push Ellis toward entering the portal.
However, that doesn’t mean that the Cards don’t need more depth at the position.
Louisville returns guard Hercy Miller next season- Likely as a walk-on. Incoming guard Koron Davis has yet to sign with the Cards but has been committed since midseason.
That means this is the roster as things stand right now.
| Name | Position | Year | Height | Weight |
| JJ Traynor | F | Senior | 6’8 | 200 |
| Brandon Huntley-Hatfield | F | Junior | 6’10 | 246 |
| Mike James | G/F | RS Sophomore | 6’6 | 195 |
| Skyy Clark | G | Sophomore | 6’3 | 200 |
| Koron Davis | G/F | Sophomore | 6’7 | 200 |
| Emmanuel Okorafor | F | Sophomore | 6’9 | 210 |
| Dennis Evans | C | Freshman | 7’1 | 210 |
| Trentyn Flowers | F | Freshman | 6’8 | 210 |
| Kaleb Glenn | F | Freshman | 6’6 | 205 |
| Curtis Williams | F | Freshman | 6’6 | 205 |
| Hercy Miller ** | G | Junior | 6’3 | 180 |
It is glaring how, once again, Louisville’s roster is thin at the guard spots.
James returns as a starter at shooting guard but played heavy minutes in 2022-23. Some around the program believe that he can take a necessary step up in his redshirt sophomore season, but any depth around him would be an unproven commodity.
Clark is more of a combo guard who can bring the ball up the court but was more of a scorer than a distributor in 13 games at Illinois.
Those around Trentyn Flowers believe that the incoming freshman can play the 1-3 at Louisville. While a fringe five-star player out of high school, Flowers is a reclass from the 2024 class.
The staff may have faith in Flowers being an instant-impact guy, but can it afford to take such a risk coming off of the worst season in school history?
Louisville basketball needs immediate contributors in order to have a shot at making the big dance next season.
As the roster stands now, it is not my opinion that this is a team that can get things above .500 against an ACC schedule.
Where things stand in the transfer portal
10 days ago, I would’ve told you that Louisville basketball was in good shape in the portal.
The Cards looked to be in the driver’s seat for rising star Keyon Menifield and high-profile UNC transfer Caleb Love felt like a player that would give the program a serious look.
Since then, however, Menifield spurned the Cards for Arkansas and Love is reportedly down to Missouri and Michigan.
Here’s a list of players that we know Louisville basketball has contacted, and what their current status is.
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | Class | School | New School |
| Khalif Battle | SG | 6’5 | 185 | Junior | Temple | Undecided |
| Sean Conway | SG | 6’5 | 215 | Junior | VMI | Undecided |
| Reese Dixon-Waters | SG | 6’5 | 210 | Sophomore | USC | Undecided |
| Keyshawn Hall | SG | 6’7 | 250 | Freshman | UNLV | Undecided |
| Dayvion McKnight | PG | 6’1 | 195 | Junior | Western Kentucky | Undecided |
| Keyon Menifield | PG | 6’1 | 170 | Freshman | Washington | Arkansas |
| Charles Pride | SG | 6’4 | 200 | Senior | Bryant | Undecided |
| Kowacie Reaves | SG | 6’4 | 200 | Sophomore | Florida | Undecided |
| Myles Stute | SF | 6’7 | 215 | Junior | Vanderbilt | Undecided |
| Josh Uduje | SG | 6’5 | 175 | Sophomore | Coastal Carolina | Undecided |
So where does Louisville basketball go from here?
It appears that the Cards have backed off their interest in Louisville native and WKU transfer Dayvion McKnight.
But, after missing on Menifield and officially losing Ellis to the transfer portal, does the staff try to get involved again?
McKnight is visiting Xavier and reportedly wants to visit Arkansas, NC State, and Kansas.
As for a personal favorite, Khalif Battle, he is reportedly down to UCF and Arkansas.
Sharp-shooter Sean Conway seems to be listening to a few Big East schools, but not much chatter around UofL of late.
Massive UNLV guard Keyshawn Hall had an in-home visit with DePaul, but all has been quiet as far as news from the Louisville front.
With this in mind, it’s crucial that we hear Louisville basketball has reached out to more guards.
As mentioned, as of noon on Thursday, Louisville can openly visit, have unlimited calls and texts with, and host recruits from the transfer portal.
Since the beginning of the dead period on March 30th, a number of high-profile players have entered the portal.
As someone watching this closely, I’d love to see Louisville basketball reach out to a player like Max Abmas of Oral Roberts.
One of the best players in the country, Abmas was a superstar in the NCAA Tournament his freshman year and has become a bona fide bucket-getter at all three levels, while averaging 22 points and 4 assists per game this season.
On the same day, probably the second-hottest guard name in the portal entered in Baylor guard LJ Cryer.
The 15 ppg scorer shot 42% from three a year ago but does not include Louisville on the list of players who have reached out.
The transfer portal does not close until the first week of May. That means that there will be plenty of names continuing to surface in the coming weeks.
Color me concerned, though, if Louisville basketball does not continue to gain traction with other names in the portal going forward.
