Big man Montrezl Harrell will be returning to Louisville next season and playing in his 3rd conference in as many seasons. Harrell and the Cardinals will be part of the ACC officially on July 1st.
Harrell averaged 14.0 points and 8.4 boards as a sophomore for Rick Pitino’s club and was projected as the No. 19 pick in the 2014 Draft, according to Draft Express. Harrell’s decision is the first major surprise when it comes to draft decision. Most analysts had Harrell heading out to the NBA, but the belief is that Harrell can play himself into the lottery if he can prove that he can develop a jumper and a back-to-the-basket game as a junior.
This is huge news for the Cardinals next season. They are already losing Russ Smith and Luke Hancock, and with Chane Behanan’s departure during the season, their front line was already quite thin this year. While the Cardinals have a solid recruiting class coming in — Jaylen Johnson and Chinanu Onuaku are both top 100 front court players while Matz Stockman and Anas Osama Mahmoud are both promising seven-footers — and Akoy Agau and Mangok Mathiang returning, that’s quite a bit of youth for a team entering the ACC next season.
One twist to Harrell's return is the opportunity for him to terrorize Virginia Tech. Harrell was one of the biggest Virginia Tech recruits in decades before decommitting after Seth Greenberg's firing.
