Louisville power forward Montrezl Harrell was somewhere between definitely declaring for the NBA Draft and he is more likely to turn into an asteroid than go back to the Cardinals before Monday's surprise announcement that he would stay in school at least one more year.
With Montrezl Harrell back, Louisville could avoid rebuilding year in ACC debut
Rims from Coral Gables all the way up to Boston are cowering in fear.
Andy Lyons
Harrell spent all of his breakout sophomore season punishing rims across the American Athletic Conference en route to Louisville's berth in the Sweet 16 and untimely meeting therein with the under-seeded Kentucky Wildcats. Harrell's identity merged in large part with his penchant for dunking; so much so, that a supercut of all of his dunks in the 2013-14 season was recently posted to YouTube and is nearly 14 minutes long.
According to hoop-math.com, 243 of Harrell’s 363 field-goal attempts last season were within four feet of the rim, and he shot 72.8 percent on those attempts. Those numbers are staggering. His 61.2 effective field-goal percentage was 35th among all Division I players thanks to his supreme finishing ability at the rim.
Harrell also used his elite athleticism to crash the boards, averaging 8.4 rebounds per game while measuring 6’8. Harrell is an NBA-ready defender with a massive 7’3 wingspan, and his athleticism carries him on offense. It was plenty in his first two seasons at Louisville, and it would have likely earned him a first-round selection this year followed by time either on a bench or in the D-League while he polishes his offensive game.
Still, Harrell's return to Louisville salvages what some were already conceding as a transitional year for the Cardinals after a Final Four in 2012, a national championship in 2013 and a Sweet 16 in 2014. Russ Smith and Luke Hancock were both seniors this past season, as was big man Stephan Van Treese. Losing Harrell would have put a lot of pressure on a young frontcourt to age quickly, and that could have gone either way as the Cardinals make their debut in the ACC this upcoming season.
Instead, Harrell will anchor the Cardinals' front line and continue to mentor Mangok Mathiang, a 6'10 freshman last season who shot 52.8 percent in 14.7 minutes per game.
Rick Pitino also has a signing class full of big men on its way in—a class perhaps anticipating Harrell’s defection to the league—that includes four players 6’9 or taller. Chinanu Onuaku, a 6’10 center, is the highest-rated of the lot. He’s the No. 6 center in the Class of 2014, according to 247sports.com. The class also includes 6’9 power forward Jaylen Johnson and 7’0 center Anas Osama Mahmoud, both of whom are four-star prospects according to 247sports.com. Matz Stockman, a 7’2 three-star center from Norway.
Harrell is the clear leader of the bunch, and his announcement Monday bolstered a Louisville roster that seemed stable in the backcourt with Chris Jones and Terry Rozier but unable to weather Harrell's loss for immediate success without growing pains for Mathaing and the incoming youngsters. Instead, Harrell ensured the Cardinals will be among a handful of favorites to win the ACC and return to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons.
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