The Floyd Street Tribune: What we know and don't know about Fabio Basili's impact on Louisville

Inside: Thoughts on a key late-summer signing for Louisville, plus the roster is out, the schedule should be soon and summer workouts left a few impressions.

Thanks for reading The Floyd Street Tribune! Miss the last newsletter? I paid homage to my all-time favorite columnist by posting a rapid-fire column on Louisville hoops. Paid subscribers have access to each newsletter via the main TFST page.

Last week was a day job whirlwind for your fearless newsletter writer, so I missed the chance to write about Fabio Basili in the immediate aftermath of his long-anticipated signing with Louisville. We all know what the signing does for the Cards — adds much-needed depth at the guard spot and rounds out the roster for the 2022-23 campaign.

Now, we’ll get to some other thoughts in this week’s newsletter, too, but we’ll start with Basili. What can we really make of him? It’s hard to say. I can cite his high school stats: 19.6 points, 4.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds a game, shooting 39% from 3. I can cite his high school team’s success in a gigantic state with an underrated basketball scene: Orlando’s Oak Ridge High made the very-difficult-to-reach Class 7A state semifinals in his senior season. And I can cite his relationship with a former high school teammate, redshirt freshman Mike James, who I hold in high regard as a player.

Beyond that, we’re all guessing. That’s OK. That was always the case with Basili. By now, we can all reasonably agree Louisville missed on some transfer guards who by and large would have either (a) fiercely competed with El Ellis for minutes as the primary point guard or (b) looked like sure-fire starters alongside Ellis. Basili is neither of those right off the bat — he’s a lanky 6-4 prospect who was rated as a three-star recruit and top-25 player in the state of Florida but not nationally ranked. Maybe he surprises everyone and becomes a major contributor. But ultimately, it’s completely fine if he doesn’t. He can be exactly what he appears to be: A much-, much-needed backup guard who can help handle the ball and, with walk-on Hercy Miller, spell Ellis when needed.