Louisville Forward Aboubacar Traore Available vs. Eastern Kentucky

The forward for the Cardinals has missed the last 10 games due to a brokemn left arm.

Louisville Cardinals forward Aboubacar Traore (25) looks to pass around Spalding University's Caden Bradford (0) at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. / Matt Stone/Courier Journal/USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program, who has been bit hard by the injury bug so far this season, got some good news ahead of their matchup vs. Eastern Kentucky.

Forward Aboubacar 'Kader' Traore, who has missed the last 10 games after suffering a broken left arm in practice, has been medically cleared and is available for the Cardinals' matchup against the Colonels, the program announced Saturday.

Traore started Louisville's first two games of the season, playing 37 combined minutes vs. Morehead State and Tennessee. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound wing shot 1-of-6 from the field and went 1-of-2 from the free throw line for three points, grabbed 10 rebounds, tallied four assists and blocked three shots.

Getting Traore back is a massive development for a Louisville team that has been snakebitten by injuries. Starting forward Kasean Pryor suffered a torn ACL last month vs. Oklahoma to cut shot his season, while backup point guard Koren Johnson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury after just two games. The Cardinals also have two players, Aly Khalifa and Kobe Rodgers, redshirting this season due to respective injuries

Joining Louisville from Long Beach State this past offseason, Traore was one of the best players in the Big West Conference last season. Playing in all 36 games with 31 starts, he put up 12.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, a team-best 4.5 assists, a team-best 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, while also shooting 51.7 percent from the floor.

Not only did Traore earn First-Team All-Big West honors last season, he was also named the conference's Best Hustle Player. He also won the Big West Tournament MVP after averaging 13.0 points and 10.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game to help the Beach win the conference tournament and clinch their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2012.

A native of Côte D’Ivoire in West Africa, Traore had a productive three-year career at Long Beach State. In 101 appearances and 88 games, he has totaled 1,033 points, 853 rebounds and 318 assists.

(Photo of Aboubacar Traore: Matt Stone - Courier Journal/USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X and @mattmcgavic.bsky.social on Bluesky