Kasean Pryor: There's 'Definitely Potential' of a Return to Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While the Louisville men's basketball program's 24-point road decimation of Syracuse on Tuesday night was the highlight of the night for the Cardinals, there was also a potentially important development on the roster construction front for next year's team.
Forward Kasean Pryor, who traveled with the team for a road game for the first time since suffering a season-ending injury, made an appearance on Louisville's pregame show. During this, he made his first public comments on a potential return to UofL for the 2025-26 season - and seems to be keen to the idea of coming back.
"I won't know anything with my redshirt until after the season ... once all those rules come to fruition, there's definitely potential of me being back here next year," he said.
Despite currently in his fifth season, there are two ways that the 6-foot-10, 225-pound stretch forward can come back. The first is by applying for a traditional injury redshirt, which Pryor can't formally do untul the end of the current season.
As for the second way, he could take advantage of the extra year provided in the wake of Diego Pavia's lawsuit against the NCAA. After Pavia was granted a preliminary injunction, the NCAA issued a blanket waiver that granted an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes who previously spent a year at the JUCO level. Pryor previously played the 2022-23 season at Northwest Florida State.
Pryor suffered a torn left ACL early in the second half of Louisville's 69-64 loss to Oklahoma in the Battle for Atlantis title game. He entered the game vs. OU averaging 13.0 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game, but had trouble finding his stroke, shooting 39.0 percent from he field and 4-of-28 on threes.
Pryor joined Louisville this past offseason as a transfer from South Florida. Playing 32 games with 21 starts, Pryor was the Bulls' third-leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, while also pulling down a team-best 7.9 rebounds. He also averaged 1.8 assists, shot 44.7/35.2/81.5 for the season, and logged 12 double-doubles.
The Chicago, Ill. native played his first two seasons at Boise State, then spent his junior year in the JUCO ranks at Northwest Florida State. There, he started all 35 games, averaging 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
(Photo of Kasean Pryor: Kevin Jairaj - Imagn Images)
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