Kenny Payne on Roosevelt Wheeler: 'I hope he stays'

The freshman big man for the Cardinals is the last player on the roster to make a decision on whether to stay or leave.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville's roster for next season is far from set in stone, but the program is starting to have some idea of what it will look like.

Over the last month since of their tumultuous 2021-22 campaign, in which they went 13-19 and mutually parted ways with head coach Chris Mack halfway through the season, several players have announced their intentions on if they will remain with the Cardinals or not.

As expected, the transfer portal has been fairly active. Gabe Wiznitzer, Samuell Williamson, Matt Cross, Noah Locke and Dre Davis have all entered their names into the portal. Louisville also loses Malik Williams, Jarrod West and Mason Faulkner to graduation.

But, Louisville is getting back a starting five's worth of players. Sydney Curry, El Ellis, Mike James, Jae'Lyn Withers and J.J. Traynor all have announced that they will return for the 2022-23 season and play for recently-hired head coach Kenny Payne.

That leaves just one final current Cardinal left to make an announcement on his future: Roosevelt Wheeler.

During the press conference in which he introduced Nolan Smith as the first assistant on his staff, Payne expressed his desire to have Wheeler return for a second season with the program.

"I hope he stays," Payne said. "We've had great conversations. He understands where I'm coming from, I understand where he's coming from. The ball's in his court."

Payne said that, when it came to deciding which players he wanted to return from last year's squad, he "wanted all of them to probably stay," but that they "made decisions that was best for them." He also wasn't going to force anyone to stay that didn't want to.

"I want them to be here, two feet in. Fight for what you want, and let's get it together. If not, I wish you the best, and use me as an asset. It's really that simple," he said.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound center showed flashes of potential as a true freshman, but had inconsistent playing time. After notching a career-high eight points and 20 minutes played in Louisville's loss at Western Kentucky, Mack declared that Wheeler would be the primary big man behind Williams.

But after playing in nine of Louisville's 11 games up to that point, the Richmond, Va. native would only see action in 12 of their final 21 games. He would only see double digit playing time once in this stretch, at Notre Dame, and never scored more than two points in a single outing.

Should Wheeler opt to remain with the program, Louisville would have a solid front court for Payne to work with, especially considering his reputation as a post player developer. Both Curry and Withers vastly improved as the season went along, with Traynor carving out a late season reserve role after not seeing any clock for most of the season.

Louisville is also waiting on a decision from Class of 2022 commit Kamari Lands. He has hinted that he wants to stick with his commitment, but has yet to sign a National Letter of Intent to play for the Cardinals.

Wheeler averaged 15.8 points, 11.9 rebounds and 4.3 blocks shots as a junior at John Marshall High School, and was ranked as high as the No. 79 player in the Class of 2021. He did not play as a senior due to an Achilles injury he has since fully recovered from.

(Photo of Roosevelt Wheeler: Nick King - Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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