Louisville basketball: 2019-2020 season review and 2020-2021 first-look preview
Top Players
Jordan Nwora
Any discussion about players who helped themselves by deciding to return to school for another year has to include Jordan Nwora. The 6-foot-7 forward took himself out of the NBA Draft pool last spring due to injury and managed to raise his stock with an all-ACC first team and AP All-American third team performance. Nwora raised his scoring from 17 to 18 points per game while improving his shooting from the line and beyond the arc, and was the Cardinals leading scorer 22 times (including all of the team’s first 12 games). Put simply, he was the Louisville offense much of the time, and his choice to play more college ball was good for both himself and the program.
Even more so that Nwora, Dwayne Sutton was a constant, the only Louisville player to start all 31 games. While most of the senior swingman’s stats looked pretty similar to his previous season, one thing he did impressively at just 6-foot-5 is rebound like a maniac, leading the team in boards and racking up double-digit rebounding totals in a number of games. Sutton also shot over 50 percent from the floor for the first time and was as dependable as a player can be for coach Chris Mack.
Just like Nwora finished runner-up to Tre Jones as ACC Player of the Year, Malik Williams came in second in the voting behind Florida State’s Patrick Williams for 6th Man of the Year honors. The team captain started the season slowly due to a broken foot, but his presence off the bench was undeniable as he finished with career-highs in points per game and shooting percentage. Few ACC teams had someone as dangerous to spark their second units.
Though he didn’t necessarily figure to be a key contributor when the season started, Ryan McMahon made the most of his senior year as the Cardinals’ most accurate three-point threat (over 43 percent on five attempts per game) and a crucial secondary playmaker. He even earned enough of Mack’s trust to start 15 games, which proved how important he was on a roster that looked deep enough on paper last fall that it might relegate him to mop-up duty.