Report: Louisville Showing Interest in Temple Transfer Khalif Battle

The former Owl was their leading scorer despite being their sixth man.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program has already landed one guard via the transfer portal, and head coach Kenny Payne is continuing to identify potential backcourt pieces for next year's roster.

The Cardinals are the latest to reach out to Temple transfer Khalif Battle, according to On3's Joe Tipton. The guard has heard from numerous high-major schools since entering the portal this past Tuesday, including Arizona, Arkansas, LSU, Villanova, UCLA, Xavier and others.

Despite only starting in eight of his 27 appearances this season, he finished as the Owls' leading scorer at 17.9 points per game. He shot 41.0 percent from the field and 35.0 percent on three point attempts, leading the Owls at 2.6 made threes per game, while also logging 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists. Battle left the program in late February following a disagreement with then-head coach Aaron McKie.

After spending his freshman year at Butler exclusively in a reserve role, the Hillside, N.J. native spent the next three seasons in Philadelphia with the Owls. He averaged 15.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists over 11 games and four starts during his sophomore campaign, then started the first seven games of his junior year before suffering a season-ending injury to his left foot. In that span, he put up 21.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Hitting the transfer portal hard was going to be of utmost importance for Payne following a 4-28 season in his first year at the helm, especially in the backcourt. Louisville had just three true scholarship guards on the roster for the 2022-23 season, and the only one who saw regular playing time was El Ellis, who led the team in scoring and minutes at 17.7 points and 35.9 minutes per game.

Despite going through senior day activities, Ellis has the option to utilize his COVID waiver year return to Louisville next season, but has yet to announced his intentions. The only other two guards on the roster - Fabio Basili and Hercy Miller - averaged a combined 15.7 minutes and 3.4 points per game.

Fortunately, they have already identified several transfer targets. The Cardinals have already reached out to former VMI guard Sean Conway, former Vanderbilt forward Myles Stute, former Bryant guard Charles Pride and former Florida guard Kowacie Reeves, while landing a commitment from former Illinois guard Skyy Clark.

Roster management for the 2023-24 season has been in full swing for Louisville since the end of their season. The Cardinals have already seen five players enter the portal: freshman Kamari Lands, freshman forward Devin Ree, freshman guard Fabio Basili, senior forward Sydney Curry and sophomore center Roosevelt Wheeler.

Conversely, Payne and company have already started adding pieces for next season. In the last week, Louisville has landed Clark, five-star 2023 center Dennis Evans and 2023 five-star reclass wing Trentyn Flowers. 

Louisville is also welcoming top-70 wings Kaleb Glenn and Curtis Williams Jr. plus JUCO guard Koron Davis as part of their Class of 2023.

(Photo of Khalif Battle: Kyle Ross - USA TODAY Sports)

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