LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In a significant blow to Louisville's basketball fortunes, senior transfer Kasean Pryor suffered a torn ACL in the Cardinals' loss to Oklahoma in the Battle 4 Atlantis last week and will miss the remainder of the season.
The 6-foot-10-inch transfer from South Florida was third on the team in scoring at 12 points per game and second in rebounding at 6.1 per contest. He also was second on the team in steals with 11.
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey also told reporters Monday morning that Aboubacar Traore will be out at least another four weeks with a broken arm, and backup point guard Koren Johnson continues to have an injured shoulder evaluated by specialists.
"Obviously, what we had feared about Kasean came true, came to fruition, and that's just kind of the nature of the beast," Kelsey said of Pryor. "That's sports. That's life. And it changes the complexion of our team. And, obviously, having a couple other guys out like Kader (Traore) and Koren, and now Kasean, it's some things that we have to adjust to quickly, because we have a very, very good, physical, tough, well-coached team coming in tomorrow. So one of the great things about sports and adversity is it's a microcosm for life. And our guys have an unbelievable mindset as we attack these two days coming up."
Pryor holds the No. 7 offensive rating in the ACC from Ken Pomeroy's analytic website, just behind Duke's Cooper Flagg, though he had struggled from three-point range, shooting just 5-33 from beyond the arc to start the season. He came off the bench for the first four games of the season but had started all three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Kelsey said he had not explored the option of getting injured redshirt players Kobe Rodgers or Aly Khalifa ready to contribute this season. He said the recovery process for both is well down the road and that he had not even had discussions along the lines of those players speeding up their returns.
The senior transfer suffered a torn ACL in the Cardinals' loss to Oklahoma in the Battle 4 Atlantis last week and will miss the remainder of t…
"Kasean is going to continue to make an impact on this team, even though he's not on the floor," Kelsey said. "His locker room presence, his energy, his personality is infectious and he's a terrific leader on our team. So we expect him to contribute in that regard moving forward. Obviously, it wasn't in the cards, no pun intended, for him to finish the season on the floor helping us, but he'll continue to have an impact on the season off the floor."
Pryor was visibly upset after the injury. He was rolled back out to the Louisville sideline in a wheelchair during the championship game at Atlantis.
"It's tough," Kelsey said. "Anybody in that situation, any of us that would be (emotional) in that situation, obviously. It's very disappointing. So we talk about the power of the unit all the time and all of us rallying around him to pick him up in this tough time. But he's a high character kid with a very, very, very bright future. He's going to make an absolute 100% full recovery and be bigger and better than ever. And it's just dealing with this dip in the radar for him, overcoming this adversity. It'll be a normal rehab."
Pryor will be eligible for an NCAA redshirt season if he were to choose to return.
Louisville faces Ole Miss in the ACC-SEC Challenge in the KFC Yum! Center at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Louisville Basketball Coverage:
- CRAWFORD | Louisville loses Battle 4 Atlantis title to Oklahoma, but wins respect in Bahamas
- CRAWFORD | Hepburn runs Louisville at a different gear, Cards beat WVU 79-70 in OT
- BOZICH | Louisville burns through Indiana for easy 89-61 win in Bahamas
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.