Bart Torvik Projects Louisville's 2023-24 Season
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Last season marked the start of a ew era for the Louisville men's basketball program. But as many know by now, the Cardinals came stumbling right out of the gates to start this new era.
Led by first year head coach Kenny Payne, Louisville put together arguably their worst season in the 109-year history of the program, going 4-28 and 2-18 in ACC play. It set the program record for most losses in a single season by a wide margin.
But with Payne and his staff pulling off an impressive roster flip over the current offseason, how well will Louisville perform in year two under his guidance? It is a little early to tell, considering the full schedule hasn't even been released yet, but we already have some idea thanks to the college basketball analytics site Bart Torvik.
Related: Following Rocky First Season at Louisville, Kenny Payne Nails First Full Offseason
Despite tipoff not coming for another five-and-a-half months, Torvik already has running projections for the upcoming 2023-24 season. This includes overall ranking, offensive and defensive ratings, projected win/loss totals, and more.
As you can imagine, Torvik is not very high on Louisville at the current moment, as it ranks the Cardinals as the No. 132 team in college basketball. They are the third-lowest ranked team in the ACC, ahead of only Syracuse at 186th and Notre Dame at 199th. Kansas, Tennessee, Duke, UConn and Houston round out the top five nationally.
Louisville sports an adjusted offensive efficiency of 106.6, which comes in as the 78th-best mark in Division I, whereas their adjusted defensive efficiency of 102.4 sits at 188th. This comes in spite of the fact that Torvik tabs UofL as the second-most talented team in D1 with a projected effective talent rating of 83.1. Only Duke is higher at 90.3.
Put it all together, and Torvik projects Louisville to go go 12-19 over the course of the regular season, and 7-13 in conference play.
The Cardinals saw seven players enter the transfer portal following the end of their 4-28 campaign. Only Mike James, J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor are returning for year two under Payne. Hercy Miller is also back, but has been reverted to a walk-on.
Conversely, Payne and his staff are bringing in nine newcomers. They are welcoming transfers Skyy Clark, Tre White and Danilo Jovanovich; 2023 prospects Dennis Evans, Trentyn Flowers, Kaleb Glenn, Curtis Williams Jr. and Ty-Laur Johnson; plus JUCO transfer Koron Davis. According to 247Sports, their high school recruiting class comes in at No. 5 nationally, while their transfer class is 27th.
(Photo of J.J. Traynor: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)
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