Louisville basketball got a much-needed boost to its depth Saturday.
After a 10-game absence due to a broken left arm, senior forward Aboubacar Traore has been cleared to play, the team announced in a statement before its noon tipoff against Eastern Kentucky at the KFC Yum! Center.
This news should be music to head coach Pat Kelsey’s ears after the Cardinals (7-5, 1-1 ACC) lost two players, fifth-year forward Kasean Pryor (knee) and junior guard Koren Johnson (shoulder), to season-ending injuries in early December. More often than not, U of L has been using a seven-man rotation lately.
Traore, a 6-foot-5 native of the Ivory Coast, fractured his arm during Louisville’s 10-day break between a loss to Tennessee on Nov. 9 and a win over Bellarmine on Nov. 19. The Long Beach State transfer has appeared in only 37 minutes for the Cards to this point, totaling three points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal.
As a junior, Traore averaged 12 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 30.8 minutes per game en route to being named the Big West Conference’s Best Hustle Player in back-to-back years.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball: Pat Kelsey gets Kader Traore back from injury
