Trentyn Flowers goes in-depth on decision to leave Louisville

Trentyn Flowers leaving Louisville for Australia continues to be the late-summer story that no one saw coming, and that no one can get away from.

The latest bizarre piece of the puzzle came late Tuesday night, when it was revealed that both Flowers and his father, Travis, gave an extensive interview to Jeff Lightsy Jr. of the 35KY Sports Show.

Both Flowers and his father began the sit down by tackling the most obvious question: Why?

“This was the opportunity of a lifetime for me,” Trentyn said. “I feel like there’s only a certain type of window I got to make this decision, and that window was narrow. This was something where down the line I didn’t want to think ‘man, I wish I should have took that opportunity.’”

The younger Flowers went on to discuss the opportunity to play against grown men in an environment that he felt would best prepare him for the NBA.

While that’s all well and good, the issue many Louisville fans had with the decision was the timing. Flowers leaving right before the start of the fall semester and weeks before the start of official practice leaves U of L with a large hole on its roster that it can no longer fill with an available talent in the transfer portal or through the traditional recruitment route.

For Flowers, giving the staff and his teammates a heads up in mid-August still left them with plenty of time to react and rebound.

“If this opportunity had come closer to the season, we never would have made it,
Flowers said. “But we’re three months out. Louisville still has the time to do whatever they need to do on their end. We were respectful of everyone else’s time.”

“As far as timing, we’re on God’s time,” Travis Flowers added, noting that he and his family looked to their faith to make this decision.

Perhaps the most insightful part of the interview came when Flowers was asked about how he notified the coaching staff.

Trentyn stated that he had informed the coaching staff of his decision “36 hours before” his initial announcement was made. His father then clarified that Nolan Smith was the only coach the pair had sat down with face-to-face, to which Trentyn added that he had attempted to notify Kenny Payne multiple times without any luck.

“I still haven’t even had a chance to speak with (Kenny Payne),” Trentyn Flowers said. “I’ve given him about seven, eight calls and he still hasn’t returned one of them back.”

Now back to the why.

About twenty minutes after making his initial announcement, Trentyn Flowers tweeted and then deleted a statement about his desire to play point guard moving forward. In the interview with Lightsy Jr., Flowers noted that there is no animosity between himself and U of L floor general Skyy Clark, but did hint at some frustration about not being the man who brings the ball up the court.

“I was actually coming here to be a wing, to be a 2, 3.”

“To be a 1,2,3 — that was per the coaches,” his father interjected.

“But we have Skyy Clark,” the younger Flowers continued. “I can’t say 1,2,3. When I get to bring up the ball, I get to bring up the ball. KP, he runs positonless style basketball. Everyone has a chance to be versatile and to show their game, so it was nothing on Louisville’s side, but I grew up playing point guard.”

Flowers then go on to confirm that his new team in Australia lured him there with the chance to play point guard and that it factored greatly in his decision.

The final key topic of concern that was addressed was the notion that Flowers had not been performing as well as expected during Louisville’s summer practice sessions. The 5-star freshman isn’t sure where those rumors surfaced, but he vehemently disagrees with them.

“I felt like I was the best player in the gym at all times,” Flowers said. “That’s no disrespect to anybody, but it is what it is. I can say I brought it my all every time I stepped on our floor and we practiced.”

You can watch the interview in full here.