Louisville's Sydney Curry Returning for 2022-23 Season

The JUCO transfer big man made tremendous strides in his game down the stretch of this past season.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kenny Payne has scored his first big win since taking over as the head coach of the Louisville men's basketball program.

Sydney Curry, a JUCO transfer who made tremendous strides in the homestretch  of this past season. announced on social media Wednesday that he will be returning to the Cardinals for the 2022-23 season.

Curry posted a graphic to Twitter and Instagram of him and a Dodge Hellcat with the message "Here to Stay", accompanied by the caption "Card Nation let’s go."

Originally a Kansas pledge before decommitting and signing with Louisville, the 6-8 big man arrived on campus last offseason overweight at 301 pounds. He showed flashes of potential through most of the season, such as a 22 point and 10 rebound double-double back on Jan. 12, but only averaged 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds through the first 27 games of the year.

By the regular season's end, Curry was down to 252 pounds with much more muscle tone. Coupled with interim head coach Mike Pegues abandoning the pace-and-space offense for a much more traditional offense that centered around the post, the junior big man exploded down the stretch.

In the final five games of the year, the Fort Wayne, Ind. native averaged 17.6 and 9.0 rebounds. He had a career-high 28 points at Wake Forest, and double-doubles at Virginia Tech and vs. Virginia on senior day. He averaged 7.1 points and 4.4 rebounds for the season, finished fifth on the team in scoring and third in rebounding.

Curry's return for next season is massive news - literally and figuratively - for the Cardinals, and for more than just the obvious reason. Payne has developed a reputation over the years as a specialist when it comes to developing post players, and Curry could feasibly see an even bigger jump in his game for his senior year.

For a Louisville roster that has already seen a fair amount of turnover since Payne took over, Curry is the first to confirm that he will be back. Malik Williams, Jarrod West and Mason Faulkner are graduating, Samuell Williamson and Gabe Wiznitzer entered the transfer portal, and Class of 2022 signees Tae Davis and Fredrick King both requested releases from their NLI's.

With Curry's move to come back, one would expect that similar decisions could soon follow. El Ellis, Jae'Lyn Withers and Dre Davis, all of whom attended Payne's introductory press conference, all received good first impressions of their new head coach, and wanted to build relationships with him before deciding to enter the portal or not. Leading scorer Noah Locke, who went through senior day activities but has one year of eligibility left, also did not rule out a return for his final season.

In his sophomore season at John A. Logan College, 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.

(Photo of Sydney Curry: Brad Penner - USA TODAY Sports)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter