Steven Enoch taking steps in the right direction for Louisville

Senior has decreased fouls, improved condition for an interior presence for Cardinals

Steven Enoch thinks he is taking small steps in the right direction.

The 6-foot-10 center for Louisville men’s basketball recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds in a victory over Miami Jan. 7 at the KFC Yum! Center. Enoch is the Cardinals’ second leading scorer (11.5 points per game) and third leading rebounder (7.1 rebounds per game) as the team’s largest presence around the basket.

Enoch, a fifth-year senior that transferred from Connecticut after his sophomore season, has been able to stay on the floor more by avoiding fouls while improving his conditioning. Enoch averaged a foul every 7.6 minutes last season, but in his final year is averaging a foul every 10.7 minutes.

His conditioning is interconnected with fouls.

“When I go back to last year, a lot of my fouls, in my opinion, were tired fouls,” Enoch said. “That’s the battle I’m fighting every game we play. Mental mistakes lead to things like that. The stronger, the more endurance you have, I feel like you make better decisions on the court.”

Enoch says his offseason conditioning program was simple, run.

“I did a lot of running,” Enoch said. “It goes a long way.”

Louisville coach Chris Mack said Enoch has been much more consistent from a year ago. Enoch’s confidence has grown as he works for position in the interior.

Enoch has finished in double figures 10 times this season, setting a career-high with 23 points on 9 of 10 from the field against Eastern Kentucky. He was Louisville’s best offensive threat against Kentucky, scoring 18 points in an overtime loss.

Jordan Nwora is Louisville’s leading scorer at 20.9 points per game, but Mack said the junior and Enoch are “1a and 1b” in interchangeable terms as the Cardinals’ go-to scorer. Enoch adds an interior presence for a team filled with perimeter scorers.

“He is a very skilled big guy, he can go over either shoulder, so it’s not like a scouting report coaches can say ‘let’s push him to his right shoulder and make him shoot with his left hand,’” Mack said. “Sometimes I can’t tell the difference between whether he is left-handed or right-handed around the basket.”

Though the offense took time to learn for Enoch, he has been able to create his own looks as he becomes a bigger part of Louisville’s scoring production. Enoch is shooting 53.1 percent from the field.

“I’m just trying to be more aggressive for our team so we can be successful,” Enoch said. “I got to make sure I take advantage of that anyway I can, it doesn’t matter what time of the game it is.”