Louisville Men's Basketball 2022-23 Transfer Tracker
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following a disastrous 2022-23 campaign that saw the Louisville men's basketball program go just 4-28, head coach Kenny Payne now has the arduous task of flipping the roster through the transfer portal in preparation for his second year at the helm. The Cardinals are expected to see a ton of movement between players leaving and players opting to join the program.
Related: Louisville Men's Basketball Class of 2023 Commitments
This post will be consistently updated when either a current Louisville player enters the portal, or the Cardinals land a player via the portal. Bookmark this page for future reference.
Transferring In (3)
Skyy Clark
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Skyy Clark
Position: Point Guard
Year: Freshman
Commitment Date: Mar. 16, 2023
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound point guard was able to crack the starting rotation for the Fighting Illini as a true freshman, playing in their first 13 games of the season with 12 starts. During that stretch, he averaged 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three-point attempts.
Back on Jan. 6, the Los Angeles native announced that he would be stepping away from basketball due to "personal reasons." He would not play another game for the Fighting Illini.
Coming out of high school, the Los Angeles native was ranked as the No. 33 overall prospect in the Class of 2022's final 247Sports Composite rankings. The Montverde (Fla.) Academy guard peaked as high as No. 10 in the metric. Clark was a one-time Kentucky signee before asking for his release from his National Letter of Intent and eventually choosing Illinois.
Danilo Jovanovich
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Danilo Jovanovich
Position: Small Forward
Year: Freshman
Commitment Date: Apr. 28, 2023
The 6-foot-8, 219-pound wing appeared in one game last season for the Canes, playing the final two minutes and eight seconds of Miami's 79-56 blowout win over St. Francis Brooklyn, but did not log any stats.
He missed the first five games of the season due to a left ankle injury before making his debut. Once healthy, Miami head coach Jim Larranaga opted to shelve Jovanovich and try to pursue a medical redshirt. It is unknown if they were successful.
A product of Milwaukee (Wisc.) Whitnall, Jovanovich was ranked as a three-star prospect and the No. 190 player in the Class of 2022 according to the 247Sports Composite. During his senior season, he averaged 29.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, helping Whitnall go 21-4 for the season. He also took part in the 2021 iteration of the Nike EYBL with Phenom University's Team Herro, averaging 15.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, while shooting 61.3 percent from the field and 20.0 percent on three-point attempts.
Tre White
© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Tre White
Position: Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Year: Freshman
Commitment Date: May 6, 2023
The 6-foot-7, 210-pound shooting guard/small forward didn't waste any time becoming an impact player as a true freshman for USC. Making 33 appearances and 29 starts last season, White averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while also shooting 47.4 percent from the field. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team for his efforts, and helped the Trojans go 22-11 with a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Napa, Calif native was a consensus four-star prospect by the four major recruiting services coming out of Prolific Prep, and was ranked as high as the No. 31 prospect in the nation according to ESPN. As a senior, he averaged 18.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game en route to guiding Prolific Prep to a 26-6 overall record.
Transferring Out (7)
Kamari Lands
© Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Kamari Lands
Position: Small Forward
Year: Freshman
Transfer Date: Mar. 10, 2023
Playing in all 32 games and making six starts, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound wing demonstrated flashes of potential as a scorer and three-point shooter on multiple occasions, averaging 5.9 points per game while shooting 32.1 percent on three point attempts. That being said, he struggled with consistency, shooting only 32.6 percent from the field and averaging just 1.9 rebounds per game, while often struggling as a defender.
The Indianapolis, Ind. native originally committed to former Cardinals head coach Chris Mack, and stayed true to his commitment to Louisville after Mack and UofL mutually parted ways and Payne was hired last March. He was Louisville's highest-ranked commit in the Class of 2022, coming in as the No. 69 prospect in the nation according to 247Sports.
Lands was one of the most prolific scorers in the 2022 recruiting cycle. As a senior for Phoenix (Ariz.) Hillcrest Prep, he averaged 33.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.5 steals per game, while also shooting 55 percent from the field.
Devin Ree
University of Louisville Athletics
Devin Ree
Position: Small Forward
Year: Freshman
Transfer Date: Mar. 10, 2023
The 6-foot-8, 180-pound wing had a minuscule among of playing time in his lone season at Louisville. His 16 games played and 4.2 minutes per game were both the lowest amongst Louisville's 11 scholarship players to be with the team for the entire season. He totaled only 14 points and 10 rebounds for the year.
The Jackson, Miss. native had formerly been signed with LSU, until he requested to be released from his National Letter of Intent following Will Wade's firing. Ranked as the No. 85 prospect in the Class of 2022 by 247Sports, Ree was the first high school prospect to commit to Kenny Payne.
Ree was billed as one of the top shooters in the 2022 class. He had an extremely productive junior year for Terry (Miss.) HS, averaging 23.2 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He transferred to Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy for his senior season, where he averaged 11.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and shot 48.1 percent from the field plus 44.7 percent on three-point attempts.
Fabio Basili
© Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Fabio Basili
Position: Point Guard
Year: Freshman
Transfer Date: Mar. 10, 2023
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound guard was a late addition to Louisville's 2022 recruiting class, as he didn't commit to the Cardinals until mid-August due to transcript issues. Basili was an unranked prospect at the time of his commitment to Louisville, and was added mainly due to the program's inability to land several backcourt transfer targets.
Once the Orlando, Fla. native got to campus, he saw minimal time on the court. He averaged just 8.3 minutes across 17 games played off the bench, tallying only 1.6 points per game on 27.0 percent shooting and 0.6 assists. Despite a lack of guard depth for Louisville, Basili played in the second-fewest game among scholarship players to be with the team for the entire season, ahead of only Devin Ree's 16 games.
A former high school teammate of current Louisville wing Mike James, Basili put up 20.0 points, 4.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game in his senior season at Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge. He also shot 55 percent from the field and 39 percent on three-point attempts.
Sydney Curry
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Sydney Curry
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
Transfer Date: Mar. 14, 2023
Heading into head coach Kenny Payne's first year at the helm, there was real optimism surrounding Curry. During his first season with the Cardinals in 2021-22, the former JUCO product averaged 7.1 points and 4.4 rebounds for the season, and put up 17.6 points and 9.0 rebounds in the final five games of the year.
However, the 6-foot-8, 270-pound forward struggled immensely at times this past season. He played in all 32 games with 25 starts, but averaged just 4.9 points and 4.3 rebounds over 17.5 minutes per game, while shooting 53.3 percent from the field.
Prior to his two years at Louisville, he spent his first two season in college in the JUCO ranks at John A. Logan College. In his sophomore season, Curry averaged 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while also shooting 69.4 percent from the field. He was named the 2020-21 Great Rivers Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
Roosevelt Wheeler
© Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Roosevelt Wheeler
Position: Forward/Center
Year: Sophomore
Transfer Date: Mar. 14, 2023
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound big man played in 25 of Louisville's 32 games this season, but saw minimum on-court action. He averaged only 8.8 minutes per game, tallying just 1.2 points and 2.0 rebounds. Of Louisville's 12 scholarship players, he had the second-lowest scoring average, ahead of only Devin Ree's 0.9 points per game.
The Richmond, Va. native joined Louisville as part of their 2021 recruiting class, and as the No. 79 player in the nation according to 247Sports, was the Cardinals' highest-ranked commitment in the cycle. During his true freshman campaign last season, he averaged 1.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 21 games off the bench.
In 46 total games played for the Cardinals across his two seasons at Louisville, Wheeler notched just 63 points and 85 rebounds.
Jae'Lyn Withers
© Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Jae'Lyn Withers
Position: Forward
Year: Redshirt Junior
Transfer Date: Mar. 20, 2023
The 6-foot-9, 220-pound stretch four played all 32 games with 25 starts, and finished as Louisville's third-leading scorer at 8.9 points and second-leading rebounder at 5.3 boards per game. He also finished as their best three-point shooter by percentage at 41.7 percent, on top of shooting 43.3 percent from the field
However, Withers struggled with consistency throughout much of the season. He logged 13 games with double-digit points along with 12 games where he finished with seven points or less, committed the second-most turnovers on the team with 71, and often struggled on the defensive end of the court.
Consistency was also an issue during the 2021-22 season, when he averaged 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds following an incredibly disappointing first half of the season. His best season at Louisville came in 2020-21 during his redshirt freshman year when he had a career-best 10.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, shot a team best 54.9 percent from the field, and was named to the 2021 ACC All-Freshman team.
Jared Anderson - Louisville Report
El Ellis
Position: Combo Guard
Year: Redshirt Senior
Transfer Date: Apr. 6, 2023
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound combo guard was a bright spot on an otherwise bleak season for Louisville. His 17.7 points per game finished third in the ACC behind Wake Forest's Tyree Applyby and NC State's Terquavion Smith, and his 4.4 assists per game came in at eighth in the league. He also shot 41.0 percent from the field, 31.9 percent on three-point attempts and 81.0 percent from the free throw line. He was named an All-ACC Honorable Mention as a result.
A former two-time JUCO All-American at Tallahassee Community College, Ellis joined Louisville for the 2021-22 season, and had an immediate impact. He averaged 8.7 points per game to finish as Louisville's third-leading scorer, averaged 1.6 assists per game, and was UofL's top three-point shooter by shooting percentage at 36.0 percent.
(Photo of Louie: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)
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