Louisville Basketball: Previewing 2020 Wade Houston Tipoff Classic

LOUISVILLE, KY - FEBRUARY 05: A general view of the opening tip off during a game between the Louisville Cardinals and Wake Forest Demon Deacons at KFC YUM! Center on February 5, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville defeated Wake Forest 86-76. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

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Faite Williams (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Prairie View A&M

2019-20 record: 19-13 overall, 14-4 SWAC
2019-20 KenPom rating: 213
2020-21 KenPom rating: 318
- Schedule:
  - Nov. 27 vs. Southern Illinois
  - Nov. 29 vs. Louisville
  - Nov. 30 vs. Little Rock
  - Dec. 2 vs. UNC Greensboro
  - Dec. 3 vs. Western Kentucky

Things are going to be challenging for Byron Smith and the Panthers this season. They have graduated their top five scorers from a team that went 19-13 and were SWAC regular season champions last season, and qualified for the NCAA tournament the previous year.

For context: Devonte Patterson (15.8 ppg), Gerard Andrus (15.4 ppg), Darius Williams (11.0 ppg), Antione Lister (7.3 ppg), and Chancellor Ellis (7.3 ppg) are all gone. The top returning scorers are Faite Williams (4.9 ppg) and Henry Lennell (4.8 ppg).

In order to replace the hefty amount of production lost, Smith and his staff have turned to the transfer market – and there are an unbelievable amount of new faces on the Panthers roster this season, as a result. In total, there are 12 new players and five returners.

In addition to Williams and Lennell, the Panthers will hope to gain a seismic boost from the incoming recruiting class – namely, transfers like D’Rell Roberts (11.6 ppg on 52% FG/41% 3PT at Kilgore College) and Myles Washington (13.1 ppg on 51% at Central Georgia Tech) will be relied on to supply some offensive firepower.

This Panthers team will adopt an even newer look when University of Nebraska transfer and star point guard Cam Mack is eventually eligible, but for now, this early-season tipoff classic will serve as a quality experience for a Prairie View A&M squad with a new identity.

Of their five opening games, at least four of them – Louisville, Little Rock, UNC Greensboro, and Western Kentucky – will be genuine tests of how well this team has meshed together. An opening win on Nov. 27 against Southern Illinois would go a long way in setting the tone for the Panthers.

Even with the losses from last year, this is still a Prairie View A&M squad that is expected to compete – and potentially win – the SWAC. They were recently picked to finish third in the conference, and they pushed around some quality teams last season (four-point loss at UCF, 14-point loss at Texas, nine-point loss at Arizona State). This is obviously a completely different squad from last year, but do not count out Byron Smith and his team – they will not go down easily.

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