What Kasean Pryor Brings to Louisville

Here's what the transfer from USF brings to the table for the Cardinals.

Mar 16, 2024; Fort Worth, TX, USA; South Florida Bulls forward Kasean Pryor (11) shoots against UAB / Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While new Louisville men's basketball head coach Pat Kelsey has done a great job navigating the transfer portal, one glaring area of need after six weeks on the job was in the front court. On Tuesday, he picked up one of the best big men to enter the portal.

Kasean Pryor, who spent this past season at USF, announced Tuesday that he is concluding his collegiate career as a Cardinal. He is the 10th transfer commitment for Kelsey since his hiring on Mar. 28.

The 6-foot-10, 210-pound big man had an extremely impactful season during his lone season at USF. Playing 32 games with 21 starts, Pryor was the Bulls' third-leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, while also pulling down a team-best 7.9 rebounds. He also averaged 1.8 assists, shot 44.7/35.2/81.5 for the season, and logged 12 double-doubles.

The Chicago, Ill. native played his first two seasons at Boise State, then spent his junior year in the JUCO ranks at Northwest Florida State. There, he started all 35 games, averaging 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

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

One of the first things that stood out to me from watching his film was just how good of a ball handler he was for someone who is nearly seven feet tall. It does have a tendency to get wild sometimes, but he still handles his dribble on the drive exceptionally well, plus his double clutch finish and euro step really stand out.

While Pryor is very much a stretch four and not overtly physical, he can still score in a variety of ways down low. Whether that be standing in the dunker's spot waiting for a pass or lob, making a cut off of a screen or after an offensive rebound, or even on the drive himself. It helps that his cuts both on and off the ball are quicker than expected, which gives him a lot more open space around the rim to work with. He's also not afraid to throw it down when given the opportunity.

A little further away from the rim, Pryor does a solid job of driving and shooting to and from around the right baseline. It's not his go to move, but he has a pull up jump midrange jump shot in his arsenal.

Of course, being a stretch four, this also means that he is very much a threat from long range. While a good chunk of his three-point attempts come when the defense sags off and he's waiting on the perimeter for a spot-up shot, he has shown from time-to-time that he can drain threes when the defense plays tighter. This is especially because, with his wingspan, the release point on his jump shot is insanely high up.

One weakness as a three-point shooter is that Pryor very much prefers the right side of the arc (and really, the right side in general). He hit 37 percent of his attempts right above the break, but just 17 percent on the left side.

An underrated aspect of his game from an offensive standpoint is his passing ability. A 13.8 assist rate might not jump off the page, but the actual passes themselves are very snappy no matter where he is on the court. However, he is a little bit turnover prone at times (1.7 per game).

Now let's look at the defensive end of the court. Thanks to his unique combination of length and quickness, Pryor is a very versatile defender. While he's not super physical like most players his size are, he's incredibly tenacious and does a great job staying on or close to his man.

Pryor's length plays a great role in his defensive success. Obviously, it allows him to not only be a good shot blocker (3.0 block percentage), but it alters plenty of shots that aren't blocked. He also does a good job at disrupting passing lanes and helping create turnovers.

Where he doesn't get enough credit is as a defensive rebounder, as his 6.44 per game ranked 44th in all of D1. He has phenomenal timing when the ball comes off the rim, which when you combine that with his length, makes it incredibly easy for him to snag defensive boards.

His impact on that end of the floor, whether that be due to his rebounding or actual defense, can't be understated. According to BartTorvik, just 11 D1 players had a D-PORPAGATU (BT's alternate defensive efficiency metric) of 3.5 or more and a defensive rebounding percentage of 26.0 or more.

Overall, this a fantastic pickup for Louisville. Pryor might need to add some weight so he can compete with the more elite bigs in the ACC, but he fits perfectly to what Pat Kelsey wants out of a front court player, and has upper level production to go with it.

(Photo of Kasean Pryor: Chris Jones - USA TODAY Sports)

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