Tech discovered Tristan Maxwell after scouting his high school teammate Jae’Lyn Withers at North Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte. (photo by Danny Karnik)
They don’t have many returners from the team that beat Georgia Tech in the opening round of the 2022 ACC Tournament, but one of Louisville’s holdovers does the lion’s share of the work.
Guard El Ellis (17.3 ppg, 4.7 apg) leads the ACC in Usage Rate, with 150 more field goal attempts than his next closest teammate. He’s a slippery, gliding guard who is always looking to attack the crevices of a defense, given plenty of leeway from first-year head coach Kenny Payne. The Cardinals also have a number of hard-to-move targets in 6-8 Jae’Lyn Withers (8.9 ppg) and 6-8 Sydney Curry (5.5 ppg). Six-foot-9 freshman Emmanuel Okorafor, who joined the team two weeks ago from NBA Academy Africa, made his debut on Saturday versus Notre Dame. The Lagos, Nigeria, native scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in mop-up minutes, though Louisville may try to tap into that energy again. Beware their three-point shooting too – the Cardinals have made 41.5 percent of their attempts over the last two games, with 6-5 Mike James (15-for-last-30 3pt.) emerging as a capable complement to Ellis.
That said, Louisville has had major issues holding onto the ball: its 23.9 percent turnover rate ranks 359th in the nation. With Georgia Tech struggling to manufacture halfcourt offense, can they convert Louisville turnovers into fast breaks or early offense? They’ll also have to have good point-of-attack defense and win the 50-50 balls that eluded them against Duke. Louisville has good size, with jumbo wings reminiscent of Syracuse, and statistically, the Cardinals offensive rebound well.
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Coaches are conditioned to keep their antenna up on the recruiting trail. They may not land the player they came to see, but they can always get a tip that leads them to their next recruit.
Case in point: Georgia Tech assistant Julian Swartz visited North Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, N.C., to scout Jae’Lyn Withers as a junior. The 6-8 Withers ultimately signed with Louisville, where he’s given the Cardinals a stretchy presence from deep (40.3% 3pt.). But during the visit, one of North Mecklenburg’s assistants tipped off Swartz about another player on his team, a sophomore who had just started to flash major-college potential.
That player? Withers’ teammate, Tristan Maxwell.
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Someone who has played well away from McCamish? Naturally, the Yellow Jackets’ most well-traveled player, sixth-year senior Ja’von Franklin. His two highest-scoring games of ACC play have come on the road, and he’s shooting 66.7 percent in ACC road games (14-of-21). His bounciness could be an antidote to Louisville’s front line.
