Louisville's new era

We finally have (a) college basketball result to discuss! Is it November yet?

1. It’s summer, but Louisville sure looks like a tourney team

Summer’s usually for relaxing, especially when you travel to a tropical island. Louisville did nothing of the sort in its 111-59 exhibition win Tuesday over Bahamas Select.

Now sure, it was a a summer exhibition game, but there was lots to like for Louisville fans desperately hoping for an improvement over the last two seasons.

• Even with 13 newcomers, Louisville shared the ball well, tallying a jaw-dropping 38 dimes. Washington transfer Koren Johnson paced all players with seven dimes, while adding 13 points.

• The Cardinals shot 43-of-85 (50%), and 42.6% on 3s, so it’s no real shocker they finished with 38 assists.

• The only problem area was free-throw shooting, where Louisville went 5-for-15.

As for individual play:

• Aboubacar Traore (12 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 4.5 apg, and 1.4 bpg at Long Beach State in 2024) stuffed the stat sheet with 11-7-6. At 6-5 with a versatile skill set, Traore will be difficult to keep off the floor.

• J’Vonne Hadley paced all Louisville scores with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. In most lineups, Hadley likely slides in as a small-ball four.

• Forwards Kasean Pryor and Khani Rooths both did well. Pryor, the 6-10 South Florida transfer, showcased his versatility playing a decent amount next to 7-footer James Scott, before shifting to playing the five. Pryor hit four 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Kelsey likely sees Pryor as a mismatch option against bigs who can’t guard on the perimeter.

• Rooths, a freshman in the 2024 class, scored 14 points (4-of-12 field goals, 4-9 from 3). He’s not known as a shooter, which makes that a promising sign.

Here’s a full box score from the night.

So, how should we view Louisville moving forward?

It’s an exhibition, it’s summer, and it’s hard to draw too many conclusions. That said, that sure looks like an NCAA Tournament team.

2. The incoming international names to know

Basketball’s a global game. The NBA’s benefitted from the global impact for years, and college hoops is rapidly reaping more and more every year (thanks NIL!). Here are some of the international players who stood out this summer and will be in the NCAA for 2024-25.

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