A huge blow to the Reviville.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The worst fears of everyone associated with the Louisville men’s basketball program were confirmed on Monday when head coach Pat Kelsey announced that starting forward Kasean Pryor would miss the remainder of the season with an ACL tear.
“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. “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.”
One of the most highly-sought players in the transfer portal last offseason, Pryor was third on the team in scoring at 12.0 ppg and second in rebounding at 6.1 rpg. His 1.1 steals per game average was second on the team as well.
Before his injury, which he suffered in the first half of Louisville’s Friday night loss to Oklahoma, Pryor owned the 7th-best offensive rating of any player in the ACC, according to Ken Pomeroy.
Pryor posted the following message on his Instagram:
Kelsey echoed Pryor’s sentiments about remaining involved with the team.
“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.”
As if the Pryor news weren’t enough, Kelsey also stated on Monday that Aboubacar Traore will be out at least another four weeks with a fractured arm, and guard Koren Johnson is still “day-to-day” and undergoing evaluations on an injured shoulder.
There’s no time for any one to feel sorry for themselves. The Cards host No. 23 Ole Miss Tuesday night.
