Ryan Conwell Signs with Louisville Basketball
Louisville Head Coach Pat Kelsey kept up his recruiting hot streak this week by snagging Xavier Guard, Ryan Conwell, from the transfer portal. Conwell is yet another left-handed microwave scorer that will be suiting up for the Cards during the 2025-26 season.
Conwell is your prototypical modern-day transfer portal recruit, as he will play for his fourth schools in four years. He has spent one season with South Florida, Indiana State, and Xavier before committing to Louisville. However, it should be noted that Conwell's coaches at his last two stops have left for different jobs (Josh Schertz to St. Louis; Sean Miller to Texas), so, he's had justifiable reasons to enter the portal.
Ryan Conwell is a great example of a player who had to start his career in the lower levels of college basketball, but has excelled when making his way to the upper echelon of the sport. His stats during his Sophomore year at Indiana State were very similar to his Junior year at Xavier. Last season, the 6'4" Conwell averaged 16.5 points (45/41/83 shooting splits), 2.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Those numbers led to him being awarded Third-Team All Big East this past season. He has been a consistent scorer throughout his college career, which will hopefully carry over to his one season at Louisville.
Strengths:
Conwell will likely be the most talented scorer on next year's Louisville team. It doesn't matter if he is driving the ball to the rim, running off of screens for catch-and-shoot opportunities, or is creating jumpers off the dribble-- he can fill it up from anywhere on the court. One thing I love about his game that will be heavily utilized next season is his ability to score off of screens. He doesn't have an extremely quick release, but he has the ability to shoot leaning threes with accuracy. The coaching staff will utilize Isaac McKneely the same way, so I can only imagine how excited Pat Kelsey is to generate open looks for both guys through the offense.
Besides Conwell's three-level scoring ability, his outside range is probably the most impressive part of his game. Conwell made 99 threes last season, which was impressive enough, but 21 of those makes by Conwell were from 25 feet or longer, which is honestly absurd. For reference, the college three point line is just over 22 feet from the basket, meaning he was hitting those shots from well beyond the NBA three point line (23 feet, 9 inches). Because of this, teams have to play him extremely close on the perimeter, which opens up driving lanes for he and his teammates. He will arguably be the most impactful player on offense next season because of his gravity, alone.
The last part of his shooting that I want to discuss isn't a positive or a negative, but something interesting, nonetheless. When good shooters are taking leaning shots, their preference is typically to fade toward the side of their strong hand. However, when looking at Conwell's film, many of his leaning shots that he takes coming off of screens are going to his right, which you would think would feel awkward, relative to the opposite. However, he nails a lot of these shots, which shows his ability to take and make contested/awkward shots. He's a really interesting shooter to watch.
Similar to Adrian Wooley, Conwell is a really strong driver of the basketball. Since he has a lot of weight and strength on him for his size at 215 pounds, he has the ability to bully guards of equal or similar size to the rim. His film doesn't show the acrobatic finishes that Wooley's does, but what it does highlight is elite straight line driving. It's very difficult to get him away from his left hand.
Weaknesses:
Great shooters typically start their jumper right at their chest or stomach area, but Conwell has a noticeable dip on his jumper, as he brings the ball right to or just below his waist before releasing the ball. Even with this fact, Conwell has pure form, but having such a low dip on his jumper could make it easier for defenders to block.
As another left-handed player, it's more noticeable than it is for right-handers that Conwell uses his dominant hand as somewhat of a crutch when driving and finishing. These are both identified weaknesses of Wooley and Conwell; however, I don't think it'll have as much of an impact as some may think. If you can consistently get to your spots using your dominant hand, then you might as well keep doing it until opponents can stop it.
The last weakness with Conwell's game comes from his lack of production outside of scoring points. As a 6'4" guard, you'd think he'd be solid on the backboard, but 2.7 rebounds a game isn't conducive to being a good rebounder. With that said, Conwell did average 5.8 rebounds a game during his one season at Indiana State, so hopefully he can return to that level or find some middle ground.
Final Assessment:
Ryan Conwell will likely be the starting small forward next season for Louisville. I know that Pat Kelsey subscribes to position-less basketball, but if the trio of Brown, Wooley/Mckneely, and Conwell all start, it makes the most sense for Conwell to play the 3 based on his weight. Even so, Louisville will almost certainly run a three guard lineup, so the particular positions they play won't matter much offensively.
Bold Prediction:
Ryan Conwell will be the leading scorer for Louisville basketball next season.
Predicted Stats:
PPG: 15.5
RPG: 4
APG: 2.5
Highlights for Ryan Conwell can be found below: