An out of left field addition for Kenny Payne’s 2023-24 roster arrived on Friday.
Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
In news that I’d say virtually nobody saw coming, Louisville added Miami transfer Danilo Jovanovich on Friday.
If your first response to this news was “who is Danilo Jovanovich?” I don’t think you were alone.
A 6’8 power forward, Jovanovich played in one game for Miami last season, logging two minutes in a November win over Saint Francis (NY). He missed the first five games of the season because of a minor ankle injury. When he returned to full strength, Hurricane head coach Jim Larranaga stated that his plan was to shelve Jovanovich for the remainder of the season with the hope of redshirting him.
A three-start recruit out of Milwaukee (Wisc.) Whitnall High School, Jovanovich was the No. 190 overall player in the class of 2022 according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. He averaged 29.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game during his senior season of high school.
A source at U of L confirmed to Card Chronicle that Jovanovich will be a scholarship player for the Cardinals, which leaves Kenny Payne with just two scholarships left to use on next season’s roster.
Here’s an updated look at the roster for next season:
Mike James, SO, G
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, JR, F
Emmanuel Okorafor, SO, F
J.J. Traynor, SR, F
Skyy Clark, So, G
Trentyn Flowers, FR, G
Kaleb Glenn, FR, F
Curtis Williams, FR, F
Dennis Evans, FR, C
Koron Davis, JR, G
Danilo Jovanovich, SO, F
Walk-Ons:
Hercy Miller, G
Zan Payne, G (have confirmed Zan has another year of eligibility and plans on using it)
Aidan McCool, G
The addition of Jovanovich was jarring to Louisville fans not only because we’ve heard about a thousand named in the transfer portal and his wasn’t one of them, but because he doesn’t appear to fit a position of extreme need.
U of L has two scholarships remaining. They are hosting USC transfer Tre White this weekend, and are heavily involved with five-star recruit Mackenzie Mgbako. At the moment, they once again have just one true lead guard on their roster, and don’t appear to be actively recruiting another. Maybe they don’t think that’ll be a huge issue this season, but it certainly was a year ago.
Roster reconstruction season rolls on.
