Louisville basketball head coach Chris Mack faced an offseason full of questions, but has done well to answer as many as possible.
As someone close to the situation, I feel the Louisville basketball fanbase has reached its peak level of panic in the 2021 offseason.
Louisville missed the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in over two decades after a season where head coach Chris Mack and the Cardinals were the first team outside of the NCAA Tournament field.
To be fair, Mack fielded an overachieving squad in his first year. He then guided his 2019-20 team to its first No. 1 national ranking since 2013 before the season was halted because of COVID-19.
Still, the unfortunate reality is that Louisville has missed the tournament in 3 out of 4 and 4 out of 6 seasons and has not made it past the first weekend of the tourney since 2015.
For a program that has flirted with blue blood status for years and a fan base as passionate as any in college basketball, patience is wearing thin. Given the angst that came along with over a year of little-to-no socializing, the city of Louisville is desperate for a team capable of making a deep run this March.
Add in the fact that a dark NCAA cloud still hangs over the program and mix in a healthy dose of social media panic and you have a recipe for an extremely unsettled fan base.
Fair or not, Mack drew the ire of a restless group of fans, donors, alumni, and onlookers. It was up to him to remedy the situation, and quickly.
A ton of important pieces have fallen into place this offseason. So, I wanted to, with your help, take a look back at last season. I asked our Twitter followers what they felt was the biggest issue for Louisville basketball was in 2020-21.
Bearing those answers in mind, lets take a look at how Louisville addressed some of the issues from last season.
Related: A deep dive into the transfer portal, vol. 2
Three-point shooting
Unsurprisingly, the most common qualm with last year’s team is its three-point shooting woes.
In 2020-21, Louisville basketball shot 30.8 percent from three. That is down from 37.6 percent the season before. Louisville lost Ryan McMahon and Jordan Nwora- two of the best three-point shooters in school history- and dropped from 18th in the country beyond the arc to 303rd.
Even more troubling was the fact that two of Louisville’s better three-point shooters- JJ Traynor and Jae’Lyn Withers- were forced to play out of position all season. When senior captain Malik Williams went out with a season-ending injury, Withers had to move to center. Traynor was relegated to the back-up five spot when sophomore Aidan Igiehon went out for the season with a myriad of injuries and illnesses.
Mack’s system is a four out, one in offense. That means that the five spot rarely gets a chance with the ball on the perimeter within the natural progression of the offense.
The vast majority of Louisville’s three-point attempts came from graduate Carlik Jones (56 attempts) and sophomore David Johnson (83). Additionally, Dre Davis (48), Quinn Slazinski (47), Samuell Williamson (36), and Josh Nickelberry (32) contributed to the team’s lackluster shooting numbers.
Louisville was No. 313 in the country in three-point shots attempted. Not only were the Cardinals just flat out not good at shooting the three, but they also just did not even try. Louisville had a group of wings whose strengths were better utilized close to the basket and two power forwards playing out of position that otherwise would have been able to take and make shots from deep.
That’s a recipe for some bad offense.
It was apparent immediately that Mack wanted to correct this weakness. Over the first two months of the offseason, Louisville basketball has loaded up on players who love to shoot the rock.
Departing
David Johnson- 38.6 3P%
Carlik Jones- 32.1 3P%
Quinn Slazinski- 23.4 3P%
Josh Nickelberry- 21.19 3P%
Charles Minlend-33.3 3P%
Aidan Igiehon- N/A
Incoming
Matt Cross- 40 3P%
Jarrod West- 40.8 3P%
El Ellis- 40.3 3P% (JUCO)
Noah Locke- 40.4 3P%
Mike James- 44.0 3P% (High School)
Returning
Samuell Williamson- 25 3P%
Jae’Lyn Withers- 38.1 3P%
JJ Traynor- 50.0 3P%
Malik Williams- 29.0 3P% (2019-20)
Dre Davis- 25.0 3P%
When you look at the new Louisville basketball roster from this perspective, it is obvious that Mack addressed a major need for the Cardinals.
This isn’t a fluke either. Players like Locke, Ellis, and West have years of taking and making a ton of three-point shots. Last season, Locke made 57 three-point field goals. That is more than Carlik Jones even attempted. Even as a high schooler, Mike James made 27 three-point shots in 2020-21 on 62 attempts. David Johnson went 32 for 83.
If there is anything to take away from Mack’s offseason moves, perhaps it’s that Louisville’s glaring weakness last season can become a strength this year.
Lack of depth
The next real glaring weakness for Louisville basketball in 2020-21 was its lack of depth.
As previously mentioned, without Williams, the impact was felt across the entire frontcourt. Withers and Traynor slid over a spot, which forced Slazinski, Williamson, and Davis to play out of position as well.
In the backcourt, Nickelberry and Minlend battled injuries all season. This forced Johnson and Jones to play nearly 40 minutes per game. Had Louisville been healthy in the frontcourt, perhaps Davis could have slid over to the two spot. However, the Cardinals essentially went 7 deep by the season’s end because of an overall lack of depth.
In the offseason, Louisville went out and got players who fit the modern college player mold. Locke, West, and Ellis can all play as a lead or secondary guard. Cross can play both forward spots and serves as a de facto back-up to Williamson and Davis.
Here is an example of what the depth chart could look like:
1- Ellis | West | Locke
2- Locke | James | Ellis, Davis, Cross
3- Williamson | Cross | Davis | James
4- Withers | Traynor | Davis, Williamson
5- Williams | Wheeler | Wiznitzer | Withers
Not only did Mack add players that fill a void, but he has worked toward building more depth.
Now, the interesting leg off this offseason begins. The Cardinals still have two open scholarship spots and two major areas of need on the roster.
Mack has honed in on and landed all four transfers that he wanted. However, the Cards could stand to have one more player who can help to initiate the offense. As Jeff Greer says, Louisville basketball is in need of one more player that “stirs the drink.”
Be it a star like Arizona State transfer Remy Martin or a bench piece with a lot of potential like FSU’s Sardaar Calhoun, Louisville could solidify the roster with one final piece.
Still, it is clear that Mack has worked to fill the roster with players who can work congruently with one another- a major factor entering next season.
Coaching
Finally, a major anxiety around the fanbase was what many perceived as a poor coaching job in 2020-21.
It’s difficult to look at a COVID-riddled season and place the blame on any one person. Especially given that Louisville played less games than any other power five team. However, making excuses for a high-level program like Louisville is never going to sit well.
Thusly, in the offseason, Mack decided to make some major moves on the coaching staff.
Out
Luke Murray, Assistant Coach (UConn)
Still considered one of the best up-and-coming coaching minds in college basketball, Luke Murray’s contract was not extended at the end of the season. Murray had been Mack’s right-hand man dating back to his final three seasons at Xavier and was one of the team’s lead recruiters.
Dino Gaudio, Assistant Coach (TBD)
Assistant coach Dino Gaudio came out of an eight-year coaching hiatus to rejoin forces with Mack in 2018. Mack was an assistant with Gaudio on the Wake Forest staff where Gaudio went on to become the head coach for three seasons.
Gaudio was brought on to be a veteran basketball mind on the staff. He came in with 10 years of head coaching experience at three different schools. His relationship with Mack helped instill and cultivate the current culture around the program during a difficult transition period.
During a March presser, Williams said that Murray and Gaudio’s departures “didn’t come as a shock.”
“I feel like they’re really good coaches, I don’t think anything upstairs is wrong with it,” Williams said. “I think it comes to a point where you gotta try something new, and sometimes that’s just how it is. That’s the sad part of it. Building the connection with those guys over the years, but I think it’s just onto the next step. I think we all knew that the staff wouldn’t stay together, people want to go new places, and people have to try new things. That’s just part of it. Those guys will be missed, I think they’re great coaches I think that’s just that. We just got to get that new piece brought in.”
Promoted
Kahil Fennel, Director of Basketball Ops —> Assistant Coach
Taylor Barnette, Director of Player Development —> Director of Basketball Ops
The big promotion in the offseason came when Mack moved basketball ops director Kahil Fennell to an assistant coaching role.
A former college basketball player, Fennell worked outside of basketball for a decade before deciding to pursue a coaching career. The last 10 years have been filled with promotions for Fennell, who has built a reputation for developing strong relationships with players.
“Kahil has been a tremendous asset to our program for the first three years of our tenure in his previous role as the Director of Basketball Operations,” Mack said in a statement. ”He has proven himself to be an extremely hard worker and well-connected with our student-athletes. Having him as a coach on the floor and in the recruiting position will do nothing but add to our program in the years to come.”
Incoming
New Assistant Coach
Louisville basketball has one more assistant coaching vacancy to fill alongside Fennel and returning assistant Mike Pegues.
There is nothing official yet, but a lot of rumors are out there regarding New Zealand coach Ross McMains. If the new assistant is McMains, this may be an excellent X’s and O’s hire for the Cards.
McMains is known for his innovative offensive style, which he goes into painstaking depth about here. He helped coach a New Zealand team to the highest scoring average (99.4 PPG) in the 2019 World Cup.
It will relieve Louisville fans to know that McMains teaches an up-tempo offense that he likes to operate at a blistering pace. Given that Mack already put the pieces in place to space the floor and make three-point shots at a higher rate, McMains could be the fresh face that helps facilitate.
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