The Daily Dish: In the background of March Madness, Louisville undergoing major roster overhaul

While the world is focused on the NCAA Tournament, Louisville is watching from the sidelines. This was not expected when the cardinals announced Kenny Payne as a head coach, but his first season in Louisville went worse than anyone could have imagined.

When Payne took the place of the Cardinals, the portal was at its peak. The famous recruiter was expected to present a competitive roster like other new coaches, but he didn’t. Possibly the biggest problem with Louisville this season was that they didn’t reinforce their backcourt in the portal around Elliscontributing to their 4-28 season.

Since the season has ended, Louisville is in the midst of a complete roster overhaul. It all started with four players entering the transfer market in Sydney Curry, Devin Rea, Fabio Basili And Lands of Kamari others are expected to leave. While we wait for future announcements about who is returning or leaving, Payne has become much more aggressive in recruiting.

In those short couple of weeks, Payne has already added two top-ranking prospects in his class – the transfer from Illinois. Sky Clark and 2023 top 20 prospects Dennis Evans. Clark is a former Kentucky-commit we love as a 92-rated transfer. He will immediately contribute to Louisville as a nimble ball handler who can create for others. At 7-foot-1, Evans is ranked 18th overall in the 2023 class. He will play the role of a defender under the basket due to his huge size.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for Louisville. Even though the transfer portal window is still early, the Cardinals are already active. There will be more. But there are also question marks surrounding the future of the Cardinals.

What does star mean Ellis planning to do next season?The 6-foot-2 defenseman has been Louisville’s focus this season and has been tasked with carrying the burden of scoring and scoring too heavily. Despite the absurd challenge, Ellis averaged 17.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Some sources indicate that a decision will soon be made on whether he will return to Louisville or go to the NBA draft and/or transfer portal.

Sources currently expect Ellis not to return to Louisville form, with a professional path being the most likely scenario. But in today’s era, everything can always change at any moment.

With Ellis’ expected departure from the program, Louisville will need to add at least (!) one more guard to the pair. Brandon Huntley-Hetfield, Mike James, Sky Clark, Dennis Evans, Caleb Glenn, Curtis Williams And Coron Davis.

There are also questions related to the future of players such as JJ Trainor And Jaylene Withers. Roosevelt Wheeler stabbed the Cardinals by hitting the portal on Friday. But luckily for Louisville, Traynor’s return is currently expected. Keeping Traynor would have given Louisville eight scholarship holders as it moved into the offseason.

However, one thing is certain. Louisville needs a big spring if they want to see significant progress next season.

Domino, which could drop and drastically improve the Cardinals’ offseason play, is a possible five-star addition. Trentin Flowers (who will decide tonight live on 247Sports between Louisville, Alabama, Arkansas, Creighton, North Carolina and Kansas).

Although Flowers is promising in 2024, it has the option of being reclassified until 2023. And with Louisville heavily involved in his recruitment, Flowers could be the next addition to their projected 2023-24 roster.

If that happens, it will give the Cardinals three top 25 prospects and two four-star prospects on the list. This is a good foundation talent for Pain that can be used in the portal.