Sydney Curry is staying at Louisville

Kenny Payne has picked up his first major victory as the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Louisville.

Junior big man Sydney Curry has announced on his social media that he plans on remaining a Cardinal.

After seeing minimal playing time during the first half of the 2021-22 season, Curry emerged as Louisville’s undisputed top performer over the season’s final weeks. He scored a career-high 28 points in the Cards’ road loss to Wake Forest on Feb. 26, and then followed that performance up with a pair of double-doubles (18 and 11, 24 and 14) against Virginia Tech and Virginia, respectively.

Curry came to U of L from John A. Logan junior college, where he was the Great Rivers Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season. He had previously committed to Kansas before ultimately signing with Louisville in July.

Getting at least one more year out of Sydney Curry would be a big deal regardless of who Louisville hired as its new head coach. Getting another year out of Sydney Curry when your new head coach has a reputation for being an incredible developer of big men seems like an even bigger deal now.