3 questions for Louisville basketball as Kenny Payne's rebuild begins with summer workouts

How will the Louisville men's basketball team respond to the challenge of bouncing back from the worst season in modern program history?

After head coach Kenny Payne and his staff overhauled their roster, with seven scholarship players entering the NCAA transfer portal and nine newcomers arriving on campus this month to begin summer workouts, we're about to find out.

The holdovers from last year's 4-28 squad are guard/forward Mike James (redshirt sophomore); forwards Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (junior), Emmanuel Okorafor (sophomore) and JJ Traynor (senior); and walk-ons Aidan McCool, Hercy Miller and Zan Payne. Joining them is an incoming collection of talent that ranks among the top 10 on 247Sports' national leaderboard.

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From the high-school ranks, there's 7-foot-1 center Dennis Evans; 2024 reclass Trentyn Flowers; former Male standout Kaleb Glenn; consensus top-20 point guard Ty-Laur Johnson; and Curtis Williams Jr., the No. 1 prospect in Michigan. Payne also signed three second-year players through the portal — guard Skyy Clark (Illinois), forward Danilo Jovanovich (Miami) and guard/forward Tre White (Southern California) — along with third-year guard Koron Davis, who is transferring in after stops at two junior colleges.

Now, it's time for Payne and his staff to see how the pieces fit together. They need to do so quickly, because U of L will be tested early with a trip to Madison Square Garden in November for the Empire Classic, whose field also includes reigning national champion Connecticut, Indiana and Texas.

Here are three questions facing the Cardinals as they begin building toward the 2023-24 campaign:

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Who emerges as the go-to center?

Louisville suffered from a glaring deficiency of production at the five spot last season.

Sydney Curry was a shell of the player who asserted himself during the home stretch of the 2021-22 campaign. Huntley-Hatfield showed flashes of potential but was sidelined for more than a month of ACC play with a right-foot injury. Payne said Okorafor rejuvenated the team upon arriving from NBA Academy Africa in January, but an injury to his right ankle limited his playing time to five appearances off the bench.

After transferring in from Tennessee, Huntley-Hatfield initially started at power forward next to Curry but was given the nod at center in four of the team's final five games, finishing his sophomore year averaging 6.7 points on 47.2% shooting with a team-high 5.4 rebounds per contest. Payne said during his final radio show of the season the 6-10 native of Clarksville, Tennessee, fits more naturally at the five and wants him to set the tone physically in the paint.

"What he should be doing is loving contact, playing with and looking for contact," Payne said in March. "There are times that he shies away from it because he's uncomfortable with it. I need him to embrace it."

With a 7-7 wingspan and a 9-8 standing reach, Evans should command playing time because of the rim protection he offers. What Payne and his staff are about to learn is just how far along the 17-year-old is offensively after AAU coach Elvert "Kool-Aid" Perry said he and Evans trained from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. for six days a week to improve his ball-handling and his ability to score from places other than directly underneath the basket.

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If Evans hits the ground running, and if Okorafor continues to make strides, Payne and his staff could consider playing them ahead of Huntley-Hatfield — or perhaps he and Okorafor can line up at the four alongside Evans.

That brings us to our next question.

How 'interchangeable' is the roster?

Payne at the end of last season lamented his team's inability to switch defensively — a staple of the NBA that the coach learned while playing for Denny Crum at Louisville from 1985-89.

During his final radio show, Payne said he wants "five guys who are all interchangeable on the floor." With the way the Cardinals' 2023-24 roster is constructed, he could make his vision a reality in Year 2.

Davis (6-7), Flowers (6-8) and White (6-7) are listed as guards but, like James, have spent time playing forward at their previous stops. At 6-6, Glenn and Williams are more traditional wings who will need to rotate defensively on the perimeter. Traynor (6-8) worked primarily at the three and the four last season; and the same could be asked of Jovanovich (6-8), who appeared in one game for Miami before opting to redshirt.

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The challenge for Payne and his staff will be creating lineups that produce the most potent threats offensively and defensively based on opponents' strengths and weaknesses and in-game scenarios. Maybe they slide Clark to the two, bumping James, White or Flowers to small forward, so Johnson gets some run at point. Maybe they go smaller to press or double down on their size to take advantage of mismatches in the post.

Regardless, with hundreds opting to enter the transfer portal this offseason, the Cardinals' coaches must find a way to manage playing time and develop talent that makes players want to stick around instead of pursuing opportunities elsewhere. After depth came at a premium last season, this is a good problem to have.

Which veterans will embrace leadership roles?

James is an obvious candidate to captain Louisville considering he rebounded from a torn Achilles tendon to start all 32 games last season and became one of the Cardinals' most consistent players.

James said former backcourt mate El Ellis taught him "how to work and how to be a professional." After Ellis transferred to Arkansas, the onus will be on him, Huntley-Hatfield, Okorafor and Traynor to make it clear from the jump that repeating last year's mistakes is not an option with both their words and work ethic.

"Every second, every minute matters," James said after the season-ending loss to Boston College in the ACC Tournament. "In practice, in film, weights — everything matters."

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The veterans joining U of L through the transfer portal could also make an impact on the leadership front. White was a key cog in USC's run to the NCAA tournament. Jovanovich got to see how a Final Four-caliber team carries itself at Miami. And as the projected starting point guard, Clark told The Courier Journal in April he created a group chat for players to cultivate chemistry before they arrived on campus for summer workouts.

"I think that's the biggest thing you got to have with a team — trust," Clark said. "Once you lay that foundation, it just keeps on building from there."

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball roster 2023-24 questions: Kenny Payne's rebuild