What Aboubacar Traore Brings to Louisville

Here's what the transfer from Long Beach State brings to the table for the Cardinals.

Long Beach State forward and Louisville commit Aboubacar Traore / University of Louisville Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Pat Kelsey has been killing it in the transfer portal ever since he was named the head coach of the Louisville men's basketball program, and on Thursday, he landed one of the most underrated mid major transfers in the portal.

Aboubacar Traore, who played his first three seasons in college at Long Beach State, is coming to Louisville to finish his career with the Cardinals.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound small forward was one of the best players in the Big West Conference this past season. Playing in all 36 games with 31 starts, Traore put up 12.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, a team-best 4.5 assists, a team-best 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, while also shooting 51.7 percent from the floor.

Not only did Traore earn First-Team All-Big West honors this past season, he was also named the conference's Best Hustle Player. He then won the Big West Tournament MVP after averaging 13.0 points and 10.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game -including a triple-double in the opener - to help the Beach win the conference tournament and clinch their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2012.

But beyond his stat lines, what else does Traore bring to the table for the Cardinals?

The best way to describe Traore is that he has the athleticism and height you would expect from a two guard or small forward, but also has the physicality, length and the overall game of a more traditional power forward. Don't be fooled by his height, Traore plays much, much bigger than his height would lead you to believe, and he regularly plays above the rim.

As you can imagine, Traore is very physical on the drive. Whether it's on a straight line drive to the rim or he's backing down against his defender when he gets to the post, he can take and deliver contact extremely well to give himself space for a shot. In fact, he shot 63.1 percent on dunks and close twos.

Additionally, Traore's off-ball offense is noteworthy as well. He's an underrated asset in transition, as he can muscle past defenders for the pass, receive the pass inside the arc and initiate the drive, trail behind the ball handler for the bucker. He makes solid cuts as well, especially from the elbow.

Because of his vertical and his length, a decent chunk of Traore's scoring efforts come from put backs. He's good at positioning himself against his man, can typically leap higher for the ball than his matchup can, and usually can also out-muscle them for a relatively easy shot. Among players at 6-foot-5 or shorter, Traore's 9.4 offensive rebounding percentage was 11th in D1.

Since the overwhelming majority of Traore's game takes place around the rim, naturally, he draws a lot of fouls and gets to the free throw line very often. But while his free throw rate of 69.3 percent ranked 25th in D1, he only connect on 66.5 percent of his foul shots.

Building off of that last point, the main knock against Traore is that he is not a shooter in the slightest. 84 percent of his total field goal attempts last season came right at the rim, and he is 5-of-34 in his collegiate career on threes.

Another offensive knock of Traore's is that he has a slight turnover tendency. Usually, they come when he leans into his aggression a bit too much and accidentally moves his pivot foot. He committed 2.6 turnovers per game last season, and had a turnover rate of 20.7 percent.

But while he can cough the ball up sometimes, Traore is also a very underrated passer. Of the D1 players who are 6-5 or taller, his 28.6 assist rate comes in at 20th nationally.

On the defensive end, Traore absolutely shines. He is an elite pick-and-roll defender, and has the ability to guard almost any player on the floor. He's a phenomenal blocker for someone his size, with his 5.2 block percentage No. 1 in D1 among player 6-5 or shorter.

As evidenced by the fact that he is a two-time Big West Hustle Award winner, his effort on the defensive end of the court immediately stands out. The term "junkyard dog" gets thrown around too much when describing a player's defense, but it absolutely applies to Traore.

Overall, this is another commitment that, while it might not be the No. 1 transfer in Louisville's portal class, it will rank towards the very top in terms of importance. Traore might not be perfect fit for Pat Kelsey's system since he's not a shooter, but he is the kind of player that will fill up the box score extremely quickly, and is another "glue guy" type of pickup.

(Photo of Aboubacar Traore via University of Louisville Athletics)

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