Louisville basketball: J'Vonne Hadley brings well-rounded game

New Louisville basketball commit J’Vonne Hadley comes with high praise from his former coach.

Louisville basketball received a commitment from a do-it-all stat stuffer on Tuesday.

Colorado wing J’Vonne Hadley became the newest member of first-year head coach Pat Kelsey’s squad and should become a fan favorite right away.

“That’s just who he is,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said after a strong performance from Hadley in December.

“What I love about J’Vonne is he basically, after the scouting report (Thursday), he came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I want Saint Thomas.’ We could’ve put Tristan (da Silva) on him. We could’ve put size on him. It could’ve been Luke (O’Brien). But J’Vonne Hadley, as a coach you love it when they come up and say give me that challenge, give me that assignment. He’s taken it to heart.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons on this team. But J’Vonne Hadley, he’s kind of the heart and soul. Our unsung hero, if you will.”

Hadley, a 6’6″, 200-pound forward from St. Paul, Minnesota took an unconventional route to the power five level. He went to Northeastern out of high school before a bridge year at Indian Hills Community College. After leading his JUCO squad in rebounding and supplanting himself as one of the top Junior College players in the nation, Hadley chose Colorado over a host of Power Five teams including BYU, Oregon State, and Texas Tech.

Since arriving in Boulder, Hadley has been the glue guy on a team full of NBA talent. He started all 36 games he played in in 2023-24, including a 16 point, 6 rebound, 4 assist night in the round of 64 against Florida, and a 7 point, 6 board, 5 assist, and 4 steal outing vs. 2-seed Marquette.

Breaking Down Hadley’s Game

Hadley is not a player who seeks out his own shots, but he makes the shots he takes at a high clip.

Per College Basketball Scouting, Hadley had a 58.5 eFG% in 2023-24. This statistic accounts for 3-point field goals as 1.5x more valuable than 2-pointers. Hadley shot 41.7% from deep this season, is shooting 42.9% from deep for his career, and does so in some of the most important times.

It’s difficult to compare Hadley to a former Cardinal. He has the size and strength of a Chris Smith, but he rebounds and facilitates at a much higher level. Think more like Dwayne Sutton in a guard’s body. An unselfish, multifaceted player capable of playing bigger than his frame.

Hadley receives a ton of praise for his defensive intangibles.

“J’Vonne’s plays at the end of the shot clock were huge,” Boyle said of Hadley after a win over Arizona State in conference play. “I thought his defensive effort against (Jose) Perez, who really puts foul pressure on you, (Hadley) pulled the chair on him a few times, hands back, really good defense. Smart player, competitive player. And now he’s starting to make plays for us and score the ball.”

Hadley took a season of growth under Boyle and Buffs in 2022-23 and turned things around to become one of the premier players on a team that was a play away from the Sweet 16.

Now, he’s looking to become a key contributor for Kelsey, who is putting together a team that Louisville basketball fans are accustomed to seeing.

Hadley joins fellow wing Terrance Fatt Edwards as a dynamic duo who can defend the 2 through 4 and rebound well above the mean for their positions.

Now, Louisville basketball awaits key visits from some of the other top players in the class. The addition of a player like Trey Townsend from Oakland would give the Cards one of the best forward groups in the nation.

Here’s what the Louisville roster is looking like currently.