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ACC Basketball: Analyzing each team’s returning impact players for 2023-24

By Cade Haak

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 11: Head coach Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils hoist the trophy after a win against the Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC Basketball Tournament Championship game at Greensboro Coliseum on March 11, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Duke won 59-49. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 11: Head coach Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils hoist the trophy after a win against the Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC Basketball Tournament Championship game at Greensboro Coliseum on March 11, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Duke won 59-49. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball
U of L head coach Kenny Payne  Uofl Appstate19 Sam /

Louisville

It’s no secret that the Louisville Cardinals were bad last season. The team finished with a painful 4-28 record under Kenny Payne in his first year as a head coach. Despite the eyesore of a first season there are at least a few areas in which Cardinals fans can feel confident. According to 247 Sports the Cards are bringing in the 6th ranked recruiting class in the nation, as well as four transfers headlined by former 5-star recruit and Illinois Point Guard Skyy Clark.

Another area where Louisville fans can find some positivity is in the area of returning players. Although the Cards lost their leading scorer in El Ellis to Arkansas through the transfer portal, they were able to retain five players from last year’s squad, with four of those places being impact pieces. Coming back for the Cardinals is Mike James, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, JJ Traynor, Emmanuel Okorafor, and Hercy Miller who has been reverted back to being a walk-on to make more room for incoming scholarship players.

The first 4 of the names listed above played sizable roles for Louisville in their struggling season. Okorafor joined the team as a true freshman around the halfway mark of the season, and the NBA Academy product showed promising flashes in his 5 games played with the team. In just under fifteen minutes of playing time Okorafor added averages of 4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds. The small sample size of his ability gives Cardinals fans good reason to believe he will be the starting 5 for the team come November.

JJ Traynor, another returning face for Louisville played in all 32 games for the Cardinals and started in fifteen. In just over 25 minutes of average playing time Traynor added 6.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and just 0.6 assists. The 6’8 forward proved to be an efficient scorer hitting 47% of his shots from the field, but with his 7’2 wingspan he left much to be desired when it came to rebounding, an area in which the Cardinals ranked 12th amongst the ACC.

Mike James will be the highest returning scorer for the Cards in the upcoming season. He was second on the team behind El Ellis while taking around half as many shots as the transfer did. In his 32 starts last season James totaled averages of 10.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists. James was a scoring threat in every game for Louisville as he was able to reach feats as a Redshirt freshman that few Louisville freshmen have.

The returning Cardinal with the most to offer is Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. Huntley-Hatfield was a top-5 prospect in the class of 2022 before he reclassified to the class of 2021. From there he went on to play one season at the University of Tennessee where he had a few stand-out performances, but overall was unable to find his footing. After transferring to the Cardinals Huntley-Hatfield was given a much bigger role his sophomore season where he averaged 6.7 points, as well as a team-high 5.4 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks.

While these numbers don’t exactly jump off the page he did this while nursing a foot injury that caused him to miss eight games. With his athletic 6’9, 220-pound frame, if he can fall securely into his bigger role and live up to his potential in the upcoming season he could be a large riser in the eyes of many.