Update: I am still concerned about the Louisville basketball guard situation

As of Monday, July 18th, rumored 2023 reclass Fabio Basili is still not enrolled at The University of Louisville.

The new Louisville basketball coaching staff keeps things awfully close to the vest, but as far as we know, the Cardinal’s 2022-23 roster is still alarmingly void of scholarship players in the backcourt.

Those around the program have made it clear that there isn’t a major concern with the overall number of guards. The Cardinals return star guard El Ellis, who, at this point, will certainly be manning the point.

The Cards also return redshirt Freshman Mike James. Although he missed all of last season due to injury, James was turning heads last offseason and could very well be the starting two guard for first-year head coach Kenny Payne.

Outside of James, Louisville is likely to turn to true freshmen Devin Ree and Kamari Lands. Both players may be better situated on the wing, but given their size and athleticism, they could present serious mismatch problems at the two.

So, let’s assume, for now, that Louisville’s scholarship “guards” consist of Ellis, Ree, Lands, and James. Given the situation that Payne and company walked into, I have no qualms with this at the “combo guard” spot.

The elephant in the room, however, is the lack of true point guards and distributors on this roster.

Also Read: Why it’s time to start questioning what is going on with the Louisville basketball roster

This has been a problem for two years now for Louisville basketball.

In 2020-21, Louisville had a dynamic tandem with Carlik Jones and David Johnson. However, there was a major lack of depth behind the Cards’ stars. Ultimately, over-use was a major reason Louisville missed the tournament.

2021-22 brought on an even uglier issue. Jarrod West, Noah Locke, and Dre Davis were up to snuff in the early parts of the season, but ultimately only Ellis had the talent and athleticism to hold serve on both ends of the court. As a result, Louisville’s offense stagnated as players not suited to drive and dish struggled mightily in conference play.

So, here we are again. In perhaps the biggest predicament yet.

My concern doesn’t lie with Ellis. In the back half of last season, Ellis proved himself a formidable ACC-level point guard. In fact, he was a bright spot on a team in a year where positives were few and far between.

Instead, the concern is what happens when Ellis can’t play. He isn’t going to play 40 minutes a game. Who spares him then? And then god forbid there is an injury, illness, foul trouble, or unforeseen issue where Ellis cannot play. What happens then?

Louisville has walk-on enrollees Zan Payne, Hercy Miller, and Aidan McCool in the fold. Which, is what it is. Sure, maybe Louisville could get some serviceable minutes from the walk-ons. But is that really where UofL is as a program? Banking on walk-ons to play point guard? Asking wings to slide over to the two? Moving on from guards that could have been depth pieces on a roster with four open scholarships?

At the end of the day, we have to acknowledge that this is a red flag and an area of serious concern.

I am extremely excited about the prospects of Sydney Curry, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jae’Lyn Withers, and company in the frontcourt- Particularly under the tutelage of Payne and assistant coach Danny Manning.

There are reasons for excitement heading into this season, and we are going to be discussing them ad nauseam in the coming months.

However, very recent history has shown us what Louisville basketball can be like without enough drivers and distributors. And that remains a major dark cloud hanging over this season.